Kagome, Team Seven's Fourth Member
by Society of Perception
Summary: INUNARU x over. The final battle was over, and Kagome had the completed Shikon no Tama, but Naraku was still alive. Now Kagome must save the world of Naruto from Naraku, and is given another chance by Midoriko when she sends Kagome to the Sandaime Hokage.
1. Chapter 1

Kagome Higurashi. That was the name of the girl currently standing in front of the Third Hokage. After explaining everything that happened to her in the past couple years, she stood silent, tears flowing out of her emotionless eyes. She made no sound and Kagome seemed to have turned into a statue.

"So…..Kagome, was it? Well Kagome, how can you explain your age?" the Sandaime (Third Hokage) asked.

"What do you mean? she asked, in a tired voice.

"Well, you said you were fifteen when this all started. So tell me, how did you start your adventures when you were fifteen, when you are merely nine years old now?"

"It is so I can fulfill my purpose in this world. I need to learn all the techniques of this world in order to do what I was sent here for."

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_It was finally over. Naraku was dead, the Jewel of Four Souls restored to its former glory. The only thing Kagome regretted was the death of her four friends. Miroku had died, sucking up Saimyousho and hordes of demons in order to protect his beloved Sango. Sango had died by the hands of Kagura and Inuyasha, who had turned against them and decided to go to hell with Kikyo in order to stay with Kikyo forever. Sesshomaru had killed Inuyasha and Kikyo soon after, but was severely injured by Naraku's tentacles. _

"_The rest is up to you, my sister." were the last words Sesshomaru said, before he lost his life by Kagura's fans. But he didn't go down without a fight. He managed to unsheathe Tokijin and send a wave of demonic energy at her, with obliterated her body beyond repair. _

_Sesshomaru had adopted Kagome as his sister and had trained her in defence and offence, plus on how to avoid and use demonic attacks, due to the fact that she now had some demonic blood in her veins. This was because of the blood bond that she and Sesshomaru had used. She had a blue crescent moon on her lower back and could now use the Poison Whip and had enhanced senses. The only thing different was that her Poison Whip was lined with miko energy, so she could kill and purify._

_Totosai had given her two katanas, made from the fangs of Sesshomaru himself. They were twin katanas that had the power over water and fire. She could control both elements perfectly, due to the extensive training she had gone through. Kagome had also learned the techniques of the demon slayers, and had learned how to control and manipulate her miko powers with the help of Miroku and Kaede. When she had made it to Sango's level of demon slaying, Sango had immediately presented Kagome with a graduation present, her own Hiraikotsu. Miroku had given her many sacred sutras and Kaede gave her a special bow made from the bones of a demon, with special bone arrows that always returned to her._

_Kagome had also officially adopted Shippo as her son also using the blood bond. She had the image on two fox ears on her right wrist, and as an added bonus, was able to use fox fire, and illusions. _

_In the last battle, Kagome had been wounded to the brink of death, attacking with her twin katanas relentlessly. Finally she found an opening and, summoning the last of her powers, she pushed it all into the arrow she had nocked on her bow, aimed, and let the arrow fly, her purple miko energy surrounding the arrow like flames._

_Even the tentacles the Naraku used to try and intercept the arrow were purified to ash and Naraku could only watch in horror as the arrow came closer and closer, until it finally purified him into ash. As Kagome gave a weak smile in victory, she slowly keeled over, a second away from death. But before she could really die, she was enveloped in a blue light. _

_As Kagome woke up from being unconscious, she rubbed her head and wondered if she was dead._

"_No, you are not dead, child." a voice said from behind her. Kagome quickly sat up and whirled around to see a proud-looking woman in battle armour. She was continuously releasing arrows, keeping the demons that she was battling at bay. _

"_Midoriko? Then where am I?" Kagome asked, curious._

"_You are within the Shikon no Tama. I have one last mission for you, and or that, it was necessary for you to survive this fight. You will be reverted to your nine year-old self, in order to learn everything that you need to, to destroy a serious threat in the world I am sending you to."_

"_What threat?" Kagome asked, feeling a bit scared._

"_Naraku has not died. Just before he was hit by the arrow you shot, he quickly escaped to the world I am sending you to."_

"_But I don't have enough strength to kill him right now." Kagome said, her tired mind taking a toll on her body. _

"_Naraku will have hidden himself well, because he has to recover from the powers of your Sacred arrow." Midoriko said, giving Kagome a small smile._

"_But I thought you said he disappeared before it could hit him!" Kagome said, jumping to her feet in amazement._

"_Your arrow managed to hit him a little, purifying a bit of the Shikon no Tama along with his soul."_

"_So, when will he reappear?" Kagome asked, solemn._

"_He may reappear at any given time, so I need you to keep alert. As a parting gift, I give you the gift of the elements. You will be able to control them at will. I will also alter your swords a bit, so you can channel any element through them, and not only water and fire." Midoriko said, gesturing to Kagome's swords. As soon as Midoriko touched them, they glowed a bright blue and changed into sharper, longer and thinner swords with the characters, lightning, fire, and earth etched into one, while the other one had water, wind and light inscribed on it. _

"_You will be able to keep the powers and weapons you have used and trained with, and retain your memories so that you can use them effectively. I bid thee farewell." As Midoriko finished speaking, she placed her palms together, in a praying gesture and suddenly, there was a rip in the air and inside it was a blue, black and purple swirling mass._

"_Wait, so I have to go into an unknown world by MYSELF?!" Kagome yelled, afraid._

"_I am sending you to Konoha's Hokage. Explain everything you have just heard from me to him. __**Only**_ _to him. Do not let others know of who you are or your past. He will help you and teach you all you need to know. This is the last time I will see you Kagome, the last and purest miko of the Shikon no Tama. Goodbye." And with that, Midoriko pushed Kagome into the rip. _

_It was the most excruciating and painful experience Kagome had ever experienced, and when it was finally over she saw that she was now standing in an office with an old man and 2 people with masks covering their faces staring at her. In a flash, one of the people with the masks on had a kunai to her throat, but Kagome did not flinch, nor did she show in any way that she was scared. _

"_Who is the Hokage?" she asked quietly._

"_I am." the old man said. "I am Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha."_

"_I must speak to you regarding who I am." Kagome said in an emotionless voice, but when she saw that the other two people were not moving from the room, she gave them a pointed look and then turned her gaze on the Hokage. _

"_Kakashi, Takuto, please leave us alone for a while. I have a feeling that her story is very important and only for my ears to hear."_

"_But-" One of the people started, but was cut off by the stare that the Hokage was giving him. Without another word, both people disappeared in a puff of smoke. _

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't and will never own Inuyasha or Naruto so this is the only time I'm putting up this disclaimer. It will be the same for every other chapter.

Chapter Two:

"So you're saying, that you are the miko of the Shikon no Tama…." the Sandaime Hokage said.

"Yes…"

"And you came from another world…."

"Yes…" Kagome said again, not sure where this was going.

"And you are supposed to destroy an evil demon…."

"Half-demon." Kagome corrected him, "Yes…"

"…" Sarutobi looked at the cold, emotionless face of the nine year-old girl in front of him and sighed. "So this….Midoriko, was it, wants me to train you into so you can grow powerful enough to defeat a threat that came from another universe that has the power to control people and kills without hesitation. You, a _**NINE YEAR-OLD**_."

"Yes…" Kagome sighed inwardly. This was going to take a long time, wasn't it?

"Well then, I cannot train you personally myself, but I can enroll you into the Ninja Academy and you can learn there with other kids your age." Kagome was quite taken aback by his friendly tone, but kept her face blank.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I have no intention of being held back by other people my age who are not even a quarter skilled as me. Also, the people that surround me will be in danger with every passing second they are near me. It is dangerous for me to be close to anyone."

"Forgive me, but I am not mocking your skills in a fight, but it would be odd for a child, new to the village to suddenly gain the status of being a high ranked ninja, whether it be Jounin or Chuunin, without having to go through the Academy tests first."

"Chuunin? Jounin?" Kagome asked, puzzled.

"Chuunin means one of the mid-ranked ninjas, while Jounin are higher-ranked ninjas. ANBU are elite ninjas that often wear a mask on missions to prevent their identities from being revealed."

'_Ahh, I see…so those two people were ANBU ninjas.' _Kagome thought.

"Besides, you want to keep a low-profile don't you?" the Hokage said, grinning. "Well if you want to, you must go through the Academy like the other normal children so as to not draw any unwanted attention."

Kagome thought this over for a moment before nodding. " I also wish to receive permission to explore this village and observe Jounin ninjas and ANBU in order to learn as many techniques as possible before I must battle with Naraku." Kagome said, unconsciously gripping the Shikon no Tama. It was around her neck on a chain of silver that she had put a miko spell on so it would not break unless she wished it to.

"Well, you are permitted to, as long as you are not caught while doing so." Sandaime Hokage said, giving a small shiver. The effects would be disastrous if she were to be caught spying. They might mistake her for an enemy nin and try to capture her, or worse, they might try to kill her.

"Understood."

"Well, now that we've got that sorted, I will call Iruka and tell him about you being a new student in his class." Sarutobi said, smiling kindly at her. "KAKASHI!"

"Yes Hokage?" Kakashi said, appearing in a puff of smoke and kneeling.

"Were you listening?" Hokage asked, suspicious.

"He could not have." Kagome said in a cold voice, surprising both men. "I cast a spell on this room, so that no one could listen unless I wanted them to."

There was silence until the Sandaime Hokage chuckled, while Kakashi stared at the young girl in amazement, not that you could tell though. He was still wearing his ANBU mask.

"Bring Kagome-chan to Iruka and tell him that Kagome will be a student in his class. Then show her to her apartment."

"I don't have an apartment." Kagome said, surprised. The Sandaime threw something at her which she caught. It was a set of keys.

"Well, you do now."

"Thank you very much, Hokage-sama." Kagome said, bowing respectfully. She then left the room with Kakashi.

"Well, it looks like these upcoming years will be very….interesting." the Hokage said, chuckling.

_**Three Years Later…**_

**Kagome's POV**

'_It has been a long three years.' _I thought, jumping from roof to roof. In the past three years that I had been training in Konoha, I had grown very powerful and surpassed many Jounins and ANBU. I had even come up with my own special jutsus, and was able to do many jutsus by watching other people perform them. I had an excellent control over my own chakra, and was able to stand on water, trees, and even air. Plus I had managed to incorporate my miko powers into my attacks, making them twice as effective as normal.

Over the three years though, I had not been taking the gift that Midoriko had given me for granted. I trained with the elements daily, along with special exercises with Hiraikotsu and my bow and arrows to make sure I stayed sharp. After all, I did not want to lose the training that had gone through with Sango, Miroku, Kaede and Sesshomaru. It was all I had left of them.

It had been hard to try and keep my powers from being exposed, but I managed to not blow my cover, and I always acted like I was only at the Academy level.

As I thought about these things, I noticed that I was nearly at the Academy, where I would be put into a team along with 2 others. Hopefully they would not get too close to me. Anyone who had ever gotten close to me had died. Although my biological family was still alive, I did not feel like we were close anymore. I felt like an outsider.

Clutching at the Shikon no Tama, I sped toward the classroom, entering a room full of fan girls and chaos.

**Author POV**

The class was filled with girls screams as they were all arguing over who could get the seat next to Sasuke.

'_Annoying……' _was the only thing that Sasuke thought. The screams were quite high-pitched causing him to twitch every time a girl screeched. Suddenly he noticed that there was someone crouching in front of him and he looked up from his glare at the desk to see Naruto crouched on the desk in front of him, giving him a death-glare. Not backing down, Sasuke gave him a death glare of his own, the tension between them so thick you could see the electricity shooting from their eyes.

"Hey, Naruto, get away from Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled angrily. All of a sudden, the guy in front of Naruto pushed him so that his lips were headed straight for Sasuke's. They were getting closer and closer….until a hand on each of their foreheads forced them apart. Sasuke pulled away from the hand and looked at his rescuer, who turned out to be….

**Sasuke POV**

'_Kagome!'_ I thought as I stared at her. She had long black hair that was tinted blue that went down to her waist and brilliant sapphire eyes. She was wearing a black tank top with a black fishnet shirt over it that had sleeves down to her elbow. Kagome also wore fingerless gloves and black cargo pants and black ninja sandals, with a white bandage wrapped around each calf. Kagome also had her twin katanas strapped to both thighs and a black holster containing kunai and senbons (needles). Her hitai-ate was around her neck.

All in all, she was the best looking kunoichi in Konoha, and most guys had tried to ask her out. Every time, her answer was the same. A shake of the head, an apologetic smile and then she would walk away. (None of the guys in the Rookie Nine or Neji or Lee has ever asked her out….yet…)

"Thanks." I said quietly. I didn't expect her to reply. After all, I had never seen her speak a word. Most of the time, she replied using shakes or nods of the head and when it wasn't a yes or no type of answer, she would write it down on paper. Looking at me, Kagome gave me a nod of the head and went to sit down in the back, alone as usual.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Hinata entered. She looked around nervously and saw that every seat in the room was occupied, other than the 2 next to Kagome. Nervously, she made her way to Kagome.

"C-can I sit h-here?" she stuttered, looking at Kagome with a tiny smile on her face. It was as if a switch had been flipped and everyone immediately quieted down, looking at Hinata, and then at Kagome to see how she would react. She had never let anyone sit next to her (and trust me when I say that a lot of guys had asked.)

Kagome gave Hinata a small smile that seemed almost non-existent, disappearing as soon as it came. She gave Hinata a small nod and went back to staring at the door. Hinata brightened and sat down next to Kagome, while other people turned away and continued their conversations.

**Author POV**

Iruka slid open the doors and everyone immediately went quiet.

"Starting today, you are all official ninjas, but you guys are all still new Genin (lowest rank of ninjas). It's going to be harder from here on. So, with that being said, you will be put into teams of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin teacher." Everyone started murmuring about the teams of three, and Sakura and Ino got into another fight about who was going to be in Sasuke's group.

"Groups are arranged so that the overall abilities are balanced. Oh, I forgot to tell you, since we have a number of students that are uneven, we will have to have one group of four." Iruka said, smiling. "I will now announce them."

(in the anime, they never say the other groups, so I'm only going to put the ones they say)

"Next, Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke….and Higurashi Kagome." Murmurs went through the crowd and Sakura and Naruto both had different reactions to this line-up. Kagome looked over at Hinata, who looked crestfallen. Then Hinata straightened up as her name was called along with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Ino was put in a group with Shikamaru and Chouji.

"That's it for the groups." Iruka-sensei announced.

"Iruka-sensei! Why is a top student like me in a group with this guy?!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Sasuke.

"Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto had the worst. We put you on a team with Sasuke so the abilities were even between the groups." Iruka explained. After some arguments and laughing, the class was dismissed for lunch.


	3. Chapter 3

Ages:

Kagome - 12

Sasuke - 12

Naruto - 12

Sakura - 12

Iruka - 24

Kakashi - 22

The rest of the Rookie Nine (well, ten in this story) - 12

Chapter Three:

Instead of going for lunch, Kagome decided to head to the training grounds for practice. Reaching into her holster, Kagome took out a chain that had mini charms on it. There was a small boomerang, a bow, and a mini quiver of arrows all attached to the chain.

Reaching for the bow and arrows, Kagome unclasped them from the chain, put some miko energy into them and muttered a few choice words. Immediately, they expanded into their normal size and Kagome picked them up.

Taking an arrow from her quiver, she nocked it on the bow and in one fluid motion released it, aiming at the target at the other end of the training grounds she was on, which was around one hundred metres away. It struck right in the middle of the red bulls-eye. Kagome repeated this exercise a few more times, before she decided to put her miko energy into one arrow. It flew across the training grounds with increased speed and lined with purple energy. When it hit the target, the target exploded. The bone arrows returned to her outstretched hand, unharmed and without a scratch.

Shrinking the bow and arrows, Kagome clasped them back onto the metal chain and instead chose to unclasp the mini Hiraikotsu.

_Meanwhile…_

"I just want you to accept me, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said to Naruto, who had changed his appearing to look like Sasuke.

Sasuke had been ambushed while he was eating lunch by Naruto and was currently tied up with rope. His mouth had been taped shut so he couldn't shout for help (not like he'd ever do that).

As Sakura leaned in for a kiss with who she thought was Sasuke, the pretend Sasuke (who was actually Naruto) suddenly got a stomach ache and left Sakura leaning for a kiss. While Naruto dashed to the bathroom, Sasuke had managed to get free.

He passed Sakura and walked up to her asking, "Where's Naruto?"

"Oh, not that subject again. Forget about Naruto. All he does is pick quarrels with you. It's probably because he's had such an irregular childhood. Oh yeah, you know how he doesn't have parents, right?" As she said this, Sasuke suddenly gave her a dark glare. Sakura continued on, unaware of the look he was sending her way. "He's always doing selfish things. My parents would yell at me if I did such things. If you're alone, your parents wouldn't get mad at you. That's why he's so selfish."

A sudden breeze blew past them, scattering leaves everywhere.

"The solitude…" Sasuke said in a dark voice.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You can't even compare it to the level of where your parents get mad at you."

"What's the matter?" Sakura asked, still oblivious, but a bit scared at the tone Sasuke was using.

"You're annoying." When he said this, Sakura's eyes widened and she stared after him as he walked down the street.

He was walking down a hallway, when he spotted Naruto dashing out of the bathroom. Naruto skidded and stopped right in front of Sasuke, pointing at him and shouting, "What are you doing here?!"

Sasuke smirked. "The jutsu to untie ropes. It's a basic technique. What are planning by transforming into me?"

"I just did it because it seemed fun." Naruto yelled, and he made Shadow Clones to attack Sasuke. In mid-air, Naruto's stomach started to hurt again, and him and all of his shadow clones made a mad dash for the bathroom, fighting over who could get in first. Sasuke smirked and walked away.

_Back to Kagome…_

Kagome caught her Hiraikotsu and, once again, threw it, cutting down a couple trees before it came back to her. Kagome caught it one-handed and sat down for a breather. She may have been strong, and she had been training with it for many years, but the Hiraikotsu was a lot heavier than herself and it was not easy to lift it and throw it many times.

In the beginning, Kagome could barely lift it, left alone throw it. Sango had told her to always carry it, so she could get used to the weight. When she could finally carry it and walk with it without collapsing under the weight, Sango told her to try and throw it. The end result was pitiful. As soon as Kagome held it only with one hand, her muscles screamed in agony and she dropped it.

After she could hold it in one hand, Kagome tried to throw it. It landed 5 centimetres away from her outstretched hand. Sango and Miroku had almost died laughing.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

"_Ready, Kagome?" Sango asked. Kagome nodded and took a deep breath. Holding it in one hand, she flung it as far as she could, moving her wrist and arms like Sango had taught her. After she had released it, Kagome opened her eyes (she didn't know when she had even closed them) and looked for Hiraikotsu. When she couldn't see it she looked at Sango, puzzled. _

_Kagome saw Sango and Miroku, looking at her and trying to stop themselves from laughing. She looked at where Sango was pointing and blushed, embarrassed. It had landed a mere five centimetres away. Unable to hold their laughter in anymore, Sango and Miroku burst out laughing, holding on to each other for support so they wouldn't collapse from laughing. _

"_BWAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA! OH GOD! IT…YOU…AHA!" Sango couldn't even form proper sentences because of all her laughing. Miroku wasn't much better off, laughing his head off and rolling on the ground holding his stomach. _

_Kagome flushed and picked it up, throwing it as far as she could once again. Due to the strain on her muscles, it landed even closer than before, only 2 centimetres away. Sango and Miroku who had just stopped laughing doubled over in laughter._

_**xX End Flashback Xx **_

Now, after many, many years with it, Kagome was able to throw it for 5 hours without getting tired. This was an amazing feat in itself, because it weighed at least ten times more than Kagome. She had trained with both arms, in case one arm was injured she would be able to use the other one.

Suddenly, Kagome's head snapped up and with her enhanced vision, saw Sasuke heading toward where she was training. _'Crap! Why couldn't I sense him before?' she thought, panicking. _Quickly, she shrunk Hiraikotsu and clasped in onto her chain which she shoved into her holster.

Luckily, she had managed to shove the chain in before he could see it and she stood up, brushing the dirt from her pants. As soon as he came into the training grounds, she brushed past him and headed for the Academy.

**Sasuke POV**

I watched as she stood up and walked past me, not even sparing me a glance. This shocked me, of course. Pretty much every girl I knew, would swoon and try to flirt with me whenever I saw them.

I looked at the target where I wanted to train with my kunai, but saw that it had been……blown into smithereens. Then I finally noticed the area surrounding me. There were many trees that had been knocked down. Then I looked in the direction where Kagome had disappeared and narrowed my eyes.

'_Did she do this?' _I asked myself, but I quickly dismissed the very idea. After all, all kunoichi were weak and cared more about their looks than their skills. Kagome couldn't be any different.

_Back at the Academy…_

**Author POV**

Everyone had gone. Well, everyone except for four. Can you guess who these four were? Yup, it was Sasuke, Kagome, Sakura and Naruto.

"He's late." Naruto said, as he peered out the door and down the hallway.

"Naruto, stop that!" Sakura said.

"But why is the teacher for our group the only one late? Everyone else is gone and even Iruka-sensei went home!" Naruto complained.

The sudden clattering noises drew Sakura and Sasuke's attention to the door where Naruto was setting up the old chalkboard-eraser-hits-your-head-when-you-open-the-door trick.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, strutting toward him with a know-it-all attitude.

"It's his punishment for being late." Naruto said gleefully.

"Geez, it's gonna be your own fault if you get into trouble." Sakura said, but inside she was really thinking, _'I love these kind of tricks!'_

Sasuke hm-phed. "Like a Jounin would fall for a booby trap like that."

Sakura immediately agreed with Sasuke. "Yeah! Naruto you're so stupid." Before she even finished her sentence, a hand was placed on the slightly open door and Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto watched as the chalkboard eraser slowly fell, heading straight for their sensei's head. When it was about to land on his head, a kunai came from the inside of the classroom and pinned it to the wall behind the Jounin. Everyone, including the sensei looked in the direction of where the kunai had come from and stared at where Kagome was sitting, reading a book.

When she felt their gazes on her, she looked up and gave them an expression that said, 'What?' The Jounin quickly pulled himself together. He knew that the eraser had been coming for him, but he did not expect a kunai to come from nowhere and pin it behind him.

"For trying to pull a trick like that on me," they looked towards the Jounin, "my first impression of you all is…I hate you. Meet me on the roof." With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kagome grabbed the top of the window frame and flung herself up the building, landing beside their teacher neatly. She also succeeded in scaring him half out of his wits.

When the rest of the team finally got to the roof (by running up the stairs), their teacher finally spoke.

"Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves." he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Introduce ourselves? What should we say?" Sakura asked.

"What you like, hate, your dreams and hobbies. Something like that."

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Naruto suggested.

"Me?" he asked pointing to himself. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams…..I have a few hobbies." As soon as he had said his name a flash of recognition burst through Kagome's mind. He was the ANBU she had met three years ago. The ANBU that tried to kill her.

"So all we learned was his name." Sakura muttered. Naruto nodded.

"Now it's your turn. You first." Kakashi said, gesturing to Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen, but I like the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei buys for me even more. I hate that you have to wait three minutes for the ramen to cook after I put the hot water in. My hobby is to eat and compare different cup ramens! And my dream is to become even stronger than the Hokages! I'm going to make all the villagers recognize my existence."

'_Interesting.'_ Kakashi thought. "Okay next."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like….well the person I like is…and my hobby is…well my dream is to…Kyaa!" Throughout her little speech Sakura had glanced at Sasuke practically every second.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, bored.

"Naruto." was the answer she gave, spitting it out as if it were poisonous. Kakashi gestured to Sasuke as a signal that he should start his intro.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have many things I hate and there aren't a lot of things I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as a dream. The revival of my clan and to….kill a certain man." Everyone looked at Sasuke in surprise. Well, everyone except Kakashi and Kagome. They knew who he was talking about.

"Last one." Kakashi said to Kagome. Everyone unconsciously leaned in. This would be the first time they heard her voice. _'This is the girl that mysteriously appeared in the Hokage's office three years ago.'_ Kakashi thought, watching Kagome with interest.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome." Her voice was very soft and melodic, but you could tell that it could turn cold and sharp in an instant. "That is all the information you need to know. If you wish to know more, ask the Sandaime Hokage. Even then, I doubt you will get any information about me."


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry, before I never mentioned what happened to Shippo. He mysteriously disappeared one night when Inuyasha told him to come with him into the forest, so everyone assume he was dead. And Kaede died before the final battle from old age.

Chapter Four:

_**Recap:**_

"_My name is Higurashi Kagome.__"__ Her voice was very soft and melodic, but you could tell that it could turn cold and sharp in an instant. __"__That is all the information you need to know. If you wish to know more, ask the Sandaime Hokage. Even then, I doubt you will get any information about me.__"_

_**End Recap**_

Everyone was silent. Kakashi coughed and that seemed to bring everyone out of their temporary trance. _'Okay. I've got a hyper kid, a fan girl, a guy out for blood and a girl who no one knows anything about. Grreeeeeaaaaaaaattttt.' _

"We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow. First, we're going to do something that we five can do." After a lengthy pause, he spoke. "Survival training."

"Survival training?"

"Why are we going to train when it's a mission?" Sakura asked, indignant. "We had plenty of training at the Academy."

"This is no ordinary training." Kakashi said in a foreboding tone.

"Then what kind of training is it?" Naruto asked. Kakashi chuckled darkly.

"Hey, what's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Well, if I say this, I'm sure you four are going to be surprised." he said, still laughing. "Out of the 27graduates, only nine become Genin. But due to the fact that there were 28 in the class this year, 10 are going to become Genin. The other 18 are going to be sent back to the Academy. There is a very high chance that you will get sent back when you take this test. It has a dropout rate of 66"

At their surprised faces, Kakashi said, "See? You guys are surprised!"

Naruto was surprised and outraged at the same time. "No way! I went through so much trouble…then what was the final exam for?"

"That just picks out those that are qualified to become Genin. Anyway, I'm going to determine whether or not you pass tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring your equipment and be at training grounds 7 at 5 AM." Different thoughts were going through Naruto and Sakura's head, but the ones going through Sakura's were pretty much worthless and stupid reasons. They were: _'If I fail this test, I'm going to be separated from Sasuke-kun. This is a trial of LOVE!' _

"Now then, meeting over. Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You'll puke." Kakashi ended his sentence on a rather dark note, and everyone's eyes widened, except for Kagome of course. She sat there silently, reading through a book which had a language that no one in but her could read. (AN-It was in English, but I don't really think that anyone would have been good enough to read English back then…I could be wrong….)

_The next morning…_

Sakura and Naruto stumbled to the meeting place, while Sasuke seemed wide awake. Mumbling out half-hearted 'good morning's Naruto glanced around and noticed that there was something missing.

"Hey, where's Kagome?" Naruto asked, now wide-awake and peering around. The three waited until it was around 9:30 AM, and that was when Kagome showed up.

"Where were you? You were supposed to be here four and a half hours ago!" Sakura lectured, trying to make it seem like she was better than everyone else.

Kagome shrugged. "I just had a feeling that he would be late, so why bother waking up early just to wait?" Kagome took out a thick book and sat down, reading. They waited for another half and hour before Kakashi FINALLY showed up, and by now, Sakura and Naruto were steaming mad. You could literally steam a bun over their head.

"Yo. Sorry I'm late. There was this black cat and it crossed my path, so I had to take the long way and-" Kakashi was cut off by his two angry students.

"LIAR!" Sakura and Naruto yelled.

"Well, anyway, today's topic is you have to get one of the three bells that I'm holding." he said, holding up the trio of bells and jingling them.

"But…there are only 3..." Sakura said.

"Yup. Whoever can't get a bell will have no lunch and will be tied to one of those stumps over there." Kakashi said, smiling and pointing to three stumps around 10 meters away. "In addition to that, you will watch me while I eat my lunch in front of you." he said this while chuckling. The same thought was running through all four of the team's minds. _'That sadist. So that's why he said don't eat breakfast.' _

"The person that doesn't get a bell will fail since he did not complete the mission, thus that person will be sent back to the Academy. You can use any weapon. You won't be able to get past me and grab the bell unless you have the will to kill me."

"But that's dangerous, sensei! We might seriously hurt you!" Sakura yelled.

"As if. He is a Jounin. You are not even a Genin yet. There is no way that you could even touch him." Kagome said, her voice like ice. She didn't even bother looking up from her book.

"Oh yeah? Like you're any better!" Sakura replied hotly. When Kagome didn't reply, she took it as a victory for her. What she didn't see was Kagome's secretive smile.

"We're going to start after I say 'Ready, start'." Kakashi said. Naruto ignored this and charged at Kakashi with a kunai raised. In less than a second, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's hand holding the kunai and twisted it behind him so that the kunai in Naruto's hand was pointed at his own neck.

"Don't get so hasty. I haven't even said start yet." he said in a dangerous tone. Sasuke and Sakura took two hasty steps back, while Kagome didn't move from her sitting position, still reading her book. Kakashi let go of Naruto , who stumbled forward.

"I think I can finally start liking you four. We're going to start. Ready, start!" As soon as he said start, everyone jumped and hid away. Well Sasuke and Sakura did, while Naruto stood in front of Kakashi in a cocky pose.

_With Iruka and the Hokage…_

"What do you want to know? I'm sure you didn't just come to enjoy tea with me." the Hokage said.

"What kind of teacher is the Jounin for Naruto and the 7th group? Is he strict?" Iruka asked hesitantly.

"Are you talking about Kakashi? Does it worry you that he is their teacher?"

"Well, I heard a disturbing rumour about him." The Hokage pulled out a book and handed it to Iruka.

"What's this?" Iruka asked, puzzled.

"It's the pass/fail list of the Genins, Kakashi was in charge of." Iruka opened it and his eyes widened.

"This is…"

_Training Ground 7…_

'_A basic for a ninja is to cancel his presence and hide. Good, everyone is well hidden…' _As he looked around, his gaze finally settled on Naruto and Kagome. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, put on a big grin and yelled, "Okay! Let's have a fair fight!"

"That idiot." Sasuke sighed.

"Oi. Aren't you a little weird compared to the rest of them?" Kakashi asked, exasperated.

"What's weird is your hair style!" and with that, Naruto took off running full speed at Kakashi. When the Jounin reached into his pouch, Naruto stopped and tensed, waiting for shuriken to come flying at him. Imagine the look on his face when Kakashi pulled out……a book.

"Why do you act just like Kagome? Are guys related or something?! Put down the freakin' book and fight me seriously!!" Naruto yelled, pissed off at the false alarm. Kagome got an angry tick mark on her forehead, but continued to read.

"I'm going to pound you!" Naruto said, rolling up his sleeves as he ran towards Kakashi. Even as Naruto tried his hardest to land a kick or a punch on his sensei, Kakashi never looked up from his book and evaded all of Naruto's attacks easily. When Naruto tried to throw one more punch, he noticed that Kakashi had suddenly disappeared.

He heard Kakashi's voice from behind him saying "Never let the enemy get behind you." Naruto also swore he heard Sakura's voice saying to get out of there, but before he could do anything Kakashi shoved two fingers into his behind and pushed up yelling, "**Hidden village of Konoha's secret taijutsu master art: **_**A Thousand Years of Pain**_**!**"

Everyone sweat dropped. _'Two idiots.'_

_With Iruka…_

"This is….there are ZERO passes!" Iruka said.

"Yes. Kakashi has never passed anyone."

_Back to Kakashi and Team Seven…_

After the Kage Bunshin fiasco, Naruto spotted a bell on the ground and ran towards it, but ended up getting caught and tied up in a tree.

Kakashi ran around, eliminating the other students (No he didn't kill them.). After Sasuke had thrown the many shuriken, he gave away his hiding spot and had to run to another one. Sakura, ran around looking for Sasuke.

"Sakura, behind you." Kakashi used a genjutsu on Sakura, and when she came out of her trance she got really confused. When she spotted Sasuke covered in shurikens and dying, she screamed and promptly fainted. '_Did I go to hard on her?' _Kakashi asked himself, '…_Nah.'_

Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of Sasuke.

"Ninja tactics know-how number two, Genjutsu (AN-sorry I was too lazy to type the first one which was Taijutsu.). Sakura fell for it so easily."

'_Genjutsu, huh? A type of hallucinatory mind-controlling technique. It's no wonder if she fell for it so easily. But…'_ "I'm different from them." Sasuke said aloud.

"Why don't you say that after you get a bell?" Kakashi drawled, still reading his book. Sasuke started the fight off by throwing many kunai and shuriken at Kakashi who dodged. He then threw a shuriken so that it cut a rope activating a trap, which sent kunai flying at him.

Kakashi dodged and the kunai hit the tree. Sasuke appeared behind Kakashi who was still skidding and tried to kick him, but it was barely blocked by Kakashi. He tried to throw a punch while his leg was still caught , but Kakashi caught his fist too. Lastly, he used his other leg to kick and used his now free hands to try and grab the bell, but Kakashi dodged and moved a safe distance away, Sasuke managing to touch a bell.

Meanwhile, Sakura woke up, disoriented and confused. When she suddenly remembered the image of Sasuke dying, she panicked and screamed out, "Sasuke-kun! Don't die and leave me behind! Where are you?"

Naruto was still hanging by his foot, but he suddenly spotted the bentos on top of the memorial stone. He laughed and devised an evil plan.

Getting back to Kakashi and Sasuke, Sasuke had just finished his hand signs and shouted out, "**Fire element: **_**Blazing Fireball**_!" He blew out between his fingers and a huge fireball formed, going straight toward Kakashi. When the last of the fire died down though, the Jounin was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke panicked, and a hand from underneath the ground grabbed his leg. "**Earth element: **_**Suicidal Beheading**_!" was what Kakashi said, before dragging Sasuke into ground until only his head showed above the surface.

Sakura had been running everywhere looking for Sasuke, and when she only saw his head, she thought he had been beheaded and screamed, fainting again. Kakashi found Naruto trying to eat all the bentos.

Naruto was the one who was tied to the stump while Sasuke and Sakura sat beside him on the ground. Kagome still had not moved from her sitting position since the beginning.

"The results of this training…well none of you need to worry about returning to the Academy. Yeah, you four….should quit being ninjas!" Everyone froze at his words (except Kagome, I'm sorry that she isn't in this chapter much.) Sasuke tried to charge at Kakashi, but ended up with a foot on his head.

"Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? What were you thinking breaking up into groups and attacking me individually?" Kakashi asked, his voice angry.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"He means that the point of this entire exercise was teamwork." Everyone's head turned towards Kagome who was putting her book away. "The point was for all of us to work together in getting the bells."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

_**Recap:**_

"_He means that the point of this entire exercise was teamwork.__"__ Everyone__'__s head turned towards Kagome who was putting her book away. __"__The point was for all of us to work together in getting the bells.__"_

_**End Recap**_

"That's right. If you had all teamed up and attacked me, you might've gotten a bell. Sakura, you cared more about Sasuke than Naruto even though you didn't know where Sasuke was and Naruto was right in front of you. Naruto, you just worked by yourself and charged recklessly at me. Sasuke, you assumed that the others would burden you, so you tried to attack me on your own. Kagome, even though you knew the objective, you did nothing." Kakashi said.

"There was no point in my participation if the objective was teamwork." Kagome explained. "They wouldn't have listened to me and would have still attacked individually."

"Anyway, we select those who can prioritize teamwork before themselves. That was the purpose, but all of you were pathetic. It's true that ninjas need well-developed individual abilities, but teamwork is much more important. Individual actions that disrupt teamwork will result in danger or even death for the teammates. Every name on this memorial stone is one of the village's heroes."

"I'm going to have my name carved there!" Naruto shouted, a huge smile on his face.

"That's the memorial stone for people who died on missions, Naruto." Kagome said quietly. Everyone had nothing to say.

"The names of my friends is on this stone. I'll give you one more chance." Kakashi said, suddenly turning around. "However the battle for the bell will be harsher than before. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge. However, Naruto cannot eat. That is his punishment for trying to eat the lunches early. I'm the rule here. Got it?"

Everyone ate, while Naruto was tied to the stump, his stomach growling so loudly that you had to yell to be heard over it. Suddenly, Kagome took a kunai and cut Naruto's ropes. She tossed her lunch roughly into his lap and sat down.

"Hey, Kagome, what are you doing? He's going to fail us!" Sakura screeched.

"Don't care. I can't watch as my teammate gets starved while we eat happily." Kagome replied. Sasuke stared at her for a moment before shoving his lunch into Naruto's lap too.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?!" Sakura screeched. "You're going to get in trouble too! Just ignore Naruto and follow the rules." Kagome shot her a death glare.

All of a sudden Kakashi reappeared, lightning flashing around him. "You four! You guys broke the rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?"

"It wasn't me or Sasuke! It was all Kagome's idea! I tried to stop her!" Sakura said.

"It was all my doing. I am prepared for the punishment." Kagome said, "But didn't you say that people who ignore their teammates are worse than trash?"

"Exactly!" he thundered. "That is why the four of you….pass." When he said the last word, he said it in a very cheery voice, making Kagome sweat drop.

"What?" Sakura said, momentarily stunned.

"People who disobey orders are trash, but people who ignore their teammates are worse than scum. Since you guys did not ignore Naruto and gave him food when it went against orders, you guys PASS." Kagome sat down with a smug look, Sakura jumped up and down with joy, Naruto was close to crying, and Sasuke smirked.

Naruto walked up to Kagome. "Hey, did you know that was going to happen?" Sasuke also heard Naruto's question and listened for her answer intently, while still managing to look like he didn't care.

"Well…who knows?" Kagome answered, giving him a mysterious smile.

"Okay, as an added bonus, I will test you all on your skills. Taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. Naruto, you first."

Naruto stepped up and immediately raced toward Kakashi, his fist raised. Kakashi dodged and the momentum from the punch sent Naruto face-first into the ground. Kakashi sat on Naruto's back. "You fail in taijutsu. Let's see what you do with genjutsu." With that, Kakashi put his hands together forming seals and Naruto found himself in a dark space alone.

All of a sudden, ramen floated in front of him, and he chased after it but couldn't get any closer. A match floated over and set the ramen on fire.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto yelled before he passed out from the trauma of losing his precious ramen.

"Okay, I guess that's a no on the ninjutsu part. Sakura, you're up next."

Sakura threw a feeble kick at Kakashi and a punch combo that was totally worthless since it left her completely open. She failed easily. On the genjutsu part, she did much better, finding the flaw in a couple minutes and releasing it. When it was time for ninjutsu, Sakura could only use the ones she learned in the Academy since she didn't know any other ones.

"Okay, you fail in the ninjutsu and taijutsu portions, but you pass in genjutsu. Sasuke it's your turn."

Sasuke did a roundhouse kick then a punch combo and then a sweeping kick. He had a set pattern when he was attacking. Attack, evade, attack, evade, attack, evade. Sasuke punched him and disappeared, appearing behind him and trying to kick him in the back. Kakashi turned and caught his leg, giving him smile.

"Okay, you pass for taijutsu. Let's see what you can do in genjutsu." Sasuke found the flaw in 36 seconds. "Last is ninjutsu." Immediately they leapt away from each other, and did various hand seals.

"**Fire element: **_**Grand Fireball Technique!**_" Sasuke said, creating a huge ball made of fire which was headed straight for Kakashi.

"**Water element:**_** Water Dragon!**_" Kakashi yelled, a dragon created out of water rising out of the ground. It swallowed the fireball and collapsed, drenching Sasuke and pushing him to his knees from the pressure of gallons of water crashing on him.

"Not bad, but a little slow on reacting. You should have countered with an earth or another fire element jutsu when my dragon overpowered your jutsu. Kagome, it's time for your test."

"Sure Kakashi, but first can you get rid of the water clone and fight me with your actual self? The water clone is only one tenth of your power and I would rather fight the real you instead of a weak copy." Sasuke stared in shock as Kakashi came out of the forest chuckling. _'You mean I was only fighting a clone?'_

"Smart. But you may regret your wish. Get ready." as soon as he finished speaking he disappeared, and reappeared behind Kagome. She only gave a smirk before she did the same to him, but unlike him, she managed to nick him in the shoulder with her kick before he could get away.

Kagome gave a sweeping kick from behind him but he jumped and kicked backwards with a kick that was meant for her gut. Kagome back flipped backwards away from the kick before launching herself at Kakashi, trying to punch his jaw. He barely dodged that before he flipped backwards also, his foot aiming for her chin. She jumped forwards, and tried to punch down at him while she was still in the air, but he dodged and her fist hit the ground, creating a crater. Straightening up, she fell into a well-practiced stance that left no openings, and was good for defensive and offensive attacks and blocks.

'_Whew. And that punch was all muscle, no chakra involved.'_ Kakashi thought, shivering as he imagined what her chakra laden fist could do if it connected with him. The match continued on for a while before Kagome finally laid a punch on Kakashi's chest, causing him to skid backwards a couple feet.

"Taijutsu, pass. Now genjutsu." Kagome found the flaw in 3 seconds flat and released the genjutsu.

"I know, I know." Kagome said as Kakashi opened his mouth. "Ninja basic art 3: Ninjutsu. She leaped backward and performed a series of complex seals. Finishing the last seal, Kagome looked up and whispered, "**Lightning element: **_**Lightning Blade!**_" A sword made of lightning formed and dropped into her ready hands. Racing towards Kakashi, she slammed her sword downwards and Kakashi pulled out a kunai and met her attack. Bad idea. His kunai actually channelled the lightning, so that it shocked his hand. Hissing, Kakashi let go of his kunai, letting it drop to the ground.

He also did a series of hand signs. "**Earth element: **_**Binding Earth!**_" A wall of dirt rose and wrapped itself around Kagome. It formed a solid ball around her.

"So, do you give up?" Kakashi asked. But before he could jump away, the ball burst and water poured out, flooding the area. Kagome had already started another set of signs.

"**Wind element: **_**Wind cyclone!**_" A twister of wind laced with chakra surrounded Kakashi. He quickly jumped out of the cyclone, chakra fuelling his impossibly high jump. When he landed, he felt cold metal against his neck and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"You win, and you pass." Kakashi said, smiling at her.

"Kakashi, I thought I already told you, I do not want to fight a clone. Even if this clone is stronger than your water clone." Pressing her kunai against his throat, she was not surprised when it poofed out of existence.

Kakashi came out of the surrounding forest, chuckling. "Guess I can't fool you, although I could tell that you were holding back a lot."

"I wasn't even fighting you. So that means that I don't need to go full power." Kagome stated bluntly.

"Okay team, that's all for today, meet me at the Hokage bridge at 6 tomorrow." Kakashi gave them a wave before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Kagome walked away soon after.

The other three were still staring wide-eyed.

'_What the hell?! I couldn't even get a clean hit on a water clone and she does it while still holding back?!'_

'_I wonder if she can teach me so I become strong enough to be the HOKAGE!'_

'_She thinks she's so much better than everyone else. Well I'm not letting her get Sasuke-kun, that's for sure. I'm so much better than her anyway.'_

--

"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B."

"This is Sakura, arrived at point C."

"This is Kagome, arrived at point D."

"This is Naruto, arrived at point A."

"Too slow Naruto." Kakashi said over the communicating devices. "Okay 7th unit. The target has moved. After it!"

"Okay, he's there." Naruto said. "Distance to target, five meters. I'm ready to go."

"Me too."

"I am too."

"Ready? Go!" Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura shot out from behind their cover and lunged for the cat. Naruto managed to catch in but was rewarded with scratches. Kagome quickly walked over and picked up the cat, the cat immediately purring and cuddling up to Kagome.

"Are you sure it's the right one? A ribbon on the left ear?" Kakashi asked.

"Yup, the cat has been caught." Sasuke replied.

"Good. Everyone meet at the Hokage Tower."

_At the Tower…_

"TORA-CHAAAAAAAAANNNN!" The middle-aged lady crushed the cat to her chest and everyone felt sorry for it. "THANK YOU FOR FINDING MY BELOVED TORA-CHAN!"

"Okay, we have a weed-picking job lined up for you along with-" the Hokage was rudely cut off by Naruto.

"No! No thanks to all of those! I want a more exciting mission, choose something else!"

"Idiot! You guys are still novice ninja! Everyone needs to start with easy missions." Iruka yelled. The Hokage explained the reasoning behind the missions he gave them but found they weren't even listening. They were talking about ramen.

"I'm not the kid that used to pull pranks anymore, jii-chan. I want a more cool mission!" Naruto said, pouting and turning away.

"Alright, Naruto, I understand." Sarutobi (the Hokage) said, chuckling. "Just this one time, I'm giving you a C-rank mission. The mission is to be a bodyguard and escort to the Land of the Waves."

"Cool! Who're we guarding? A feudal lord? A princess?" Naruto asked, jumping up and down.

"Calm down, Naruto." Kagome said, and for some reason, he immediately shut his mouth and sat down. Everyone stared at Kagome for a minute before Kakashi was bowing to her.

"Please teach me your secrets, oh wise one." he said, giving a mock bow. Everyone, even Kagome and Iruka laughed at that.

"Your mission is standing right outside the door. You can come in now!" the Hokage yelled. The door slid open and everyone watched with curiosity as the door opened to reveal….a drunken old man.

Naruto fell (anime-style) and yelled, "What the hell?"

"What is this? They're all kids! Hey, is the shortest one with the idiotic-looking face really a ninja?" the old man asked. After a quick comparison of heights and faces, Kakashi had to forcibly restrain Naruto from leaping at the man. "My name is Tazuna, I'm an expert bridge builder."


	6. Chapter 6

_I made some changes in the first chapter, but for all those who are to lazy to go back and look, they are listed below:_

_Kagome has the mark of a crescent moon (courtesy of Sesshomaru adopting her as his sister) on her lower back. _

_She also has the image of two fox ears on her right wrist (when she adopted Shippo with the blood bond.)_

_This isn't written in any of the chapters, but her fingerless gloves cover the fox ears on her wrist. The reason it wasn't written when I first described her was because when she was described, it was in Sasuke's point of view and he didn't know about the mark. _

_I also made some changes in the fourth chapter:_

_I wrote an Author's Note (on the top of the chapter page) that said that Shippo had disappeared one day when Inuyasha told him to come with him into the forest._

_Kaede died from old age (this was also in the Author's Note.) before the final battle. _

_Chapter Six:_

_**Recap:**_

"_What is this? They__'__re all kids! Hey, is the smallest one with the idiotic-looking face really a ninja?__"__ the old man asked. After a quick comparison of heights and faces, Kakashi had to forcibly restrain Naruto from leaping at the man. __"__My name is Tazuna, I__'__m an expert bridge builder_."

_**End Recap**_

As they walked out of Konoha, Naruto started to whoop and shout, seeing as he had never been outside of the village gates before.

"Hey, are you sure this kid's capable?" Tazuna asked Kakashi, pointing a finger in Naruto's direction. Kakashi laughed.

"I, a Jounin will be accompanying you, so there is really no need to worry." Kakashi reassured Tazuna, oblivious to Naruto's glare and pout.

"Hey, geezer, don't underestimate ninjas! I'm a great one! I'm the elite ninja that will one day be Hokage! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!" Naruto boasted, smiling and yelling at the same time.

_In the forest somewhere near Team Seven…_

Two dark shapes raced through the trees, occasionally jumping and running on the trees and branches themselves. They were nearing the group of ninjas and the bridge builder…

_Back to Naruto…_

"Hokage is the village's number one ninja, right? I don't think a guy like you can become one." Tazuna stated bluntly, his eyes half-lidded in disbelief.

"SHUT UP! I'm willing to go through anything to become Hokage!" Naruto shouted, angry. "If I become Hokage, you'll have to recognize me!"

"I won't, brat. Even if you become Hokage." he said, going back to his beer.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"Stop it, stupid." Kakashi said, holding Naruto by the scruff of his clothing.

"Stop, Naruto, you're only embarrassing yourself." Kagome said, walking past them. Naruto looked at her, ready to scream but when he saw that she wasn't just making fun of him, he slowly got his temper under control and walked behind her, huffing.

Once again, the group stared at her in shock and awe. Tazuna merely scoffed.

"This little girl looks like she couldn't handle a fly. She looks even weaker than the brat over there." Tazuna said, looking at her through beady eyes. She stiffened and cranked her head to look at him through one eye. When he merely glared right back at her, she disappeared and reappeared behind him, holding one of her katanas to his neck.

"I assure you I am more than fit to handle a mission of this quality." she said coldly before strapping her katana back to her thigh and walking forward, Tazuna staring after her in fear and shock.

Kakashi sighed, before motioning for the group to continue walked towards their destination. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, aren't there ninjas in the Country of the Waves?"

"No, there are no ninjas in that country. But while the culture and customs of the other countries may be different, other hidden villages and ninja do exist. To the many countries that exist on this land…the existence of ninja villages is the equivalent of the country's military powers. In other words, that is how they are able to maintain the relationship with neighbouring countries. But the villages aren't under control of that country, they are supposedly equal in position. Small islands like the Country of the Waves, where it is difficult to be influenced by other countries, means that there is no need for a ninja village.

The countries that have a ninja village, the countries of fire, water, lightning, wind and earth, occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense. That is why they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers. Country of Fire's Hidden Village of Konoha (Leaf). Country of Water's Hidden Village of Mist. Country of Lightning's Hidden Village of Cloud. Country of Wind's Hidden Village of Sand. Country of Earth's Hidden Village of Rock. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage' which means shadow.

Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the 'Five Kages', are the ninjas that reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world." Kakashi said, wrapping up his long speech.

"Wow! Hokage-sama is so great and awesome!" Sakura said, but on the inside she was saying, '_Is that old geezer really that great? Sounds kinda fishy…_'

Naruto was thinking more on the lines of, '_This is the old man who got a huge nosebleed and went unconscious when I did the Sexy no Jutsu? It must be a lie.'_

"Hey!" Kakashi said, breaking them all out of their thoughts. "You guys all doubted Hokage-sama just now, didn't you?" Naruto and Sakura stiffened before shaking their heads vigorously. "Well, don't worry. We won't have any ninja battles in a C-ranked mission. There's no worries about meeting a foreign ninja. They all resumed walking, everyone silent and enjoying the peace.

But when they walked on a dirt road, Kakashi and Kagome each noticed the innocent looking puddle, right on the side of the road. Kagome walked up to Kakashi and tugged on his sleeve. When he looked down at her, she looked at the puddle, then back to him and gave him a meaningful look. He looked at her, surprised that she had noticed but got over it quickly, nodded, and replaced himself with a log a couple meters away in the forest.

Just as he did that, 2 men jumped out of the puddle and raced towards Kakashi, wrapping their chain around him. Kagome quickly jumped away, and they pulled the chain, ripping Kakashi (or what they thought was him) into shreds.

"One down." they muttered, turning around. Then they raced toward Naruto, disappearing and appearing behind him. "Two down."

Sasuke quickly took action, pinning their chain to a tree with a shuriken so they couldn't move it. He grabbed one of each of their metal claws and kicked them in the face with each leg. The two men disconnected the chain from their metal claws and raced around Sasuke and Naruto, heading for where Sakura and Tazuna were. Sakura panicked and shoved herself in front of the bridge builder.

The enemy ninjas were fast, but Kagome was faster, racing in front of Sakura and doing a couple hand signs. "**Wind element: **_**Air Bullets!**_" She took a deep breath and spat out little bursts of air which hit them square in the stomach. Kakashi came in last, holding both the nins in a choke hold.

Kagome swore she heard Sasuke mutter, "Show-off."

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi said to Tazuna. "These guys are Chuunin-level ninjas from the Hidden Village of Mist. They are known to keep fighting no matter the cost."

"How were you able to detect our action?" one of the enemy nins asked, both of them tied to a tree.

"Use your brains." Kagome said, everyone's attention turning to her. "There hasn't been any rain for the past few days, plus it's sunny today. A water puddle shouldn't exist."

"If you knew this, why did you let the kids fight?" Tazuna asked Kakashi.

"I needed to see who they were after, even if I could have killed these two in the blink of an eye. In other words, were you being targeted, or was it somebody from our ninja group. We haven't heard anything about you being targeted by ninja." Kakashi said, looking at Tazuna suspiciously. "Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. Our job was to support you and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B-rank. It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details."

"This mission is out of our league. Let's quit." Sakura said. "We need anesthesia to take out the poisoned blood in Naruto anyway. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!"

"This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto." Kakashi said, turning away. Naruto got angrier and angrier, and finally pulled out a kunai and…stabbed himself in the hand. Blood squirted out and everyone gasped at his rash act.

"Why am I so different…Why am I always…Damn it!" Naruto whispered, his hand still holding the kunai plunged into his hand.

"What are you doing?!" Sakura screeched.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Sakura." Kagome said quietly. "Naruto wants to continue the mission."

"I should be stronger…I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced techniques everyday…I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things. I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE TO SASUKE. I vow that to the pain in my left hand. I'm going to protect the old man with this kunai!" Naruto shouted, blood dripping on the ground.

"Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly, but….you're going to die from blood loss if anymore comes out." Kakashi stated. Silence. "It's not good if you don't stop it now. Seriously." More silence… And then…

"AHHHHHHHHH! Nonononononononono!" Naruto yelled, waving his arms around. Kagome firmly took his hand.

"Stop. I'm going to bandage your hand now, okay?" Naruto whimpered and nodded.

Kakashi walked over to where Kagome and Naruto were standing. "I'll help you." As they were bandaging, Kagome and Kakashi both saw the cut already healing over.

"Ano….am I going to be okay? You've been staring at it for a long time with a really serious face. " Naruto said, trembling and a bit blue from blood loss.

"No, no. nothing's wrong." Kakashi said, bandaging up the last of his hand. "You should be okay." _'It must be the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra.' _Kakashi thought.

_After a couple hours of walking, on a boat…_

"You should be able to see the country soon." the person who was navigating the boat said. They peered through the thick mist and after a couple minutes, they saw the huge bridge.

"Whoa! HUGE!" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, be quiet! We're using this boat and hiding in the mist. That's why I'm rowing instead of using the engine. In other words, if we get caught, we're in trouble!" the rowing man said.

Kakashi looked at Tazuna. "Tazuna-san. Before the boat gets to the pier, there's something I need to ask you. What is the identity of the ones who are after you, and the reason they are after you? Either that or we can call off the mission as soon as we get ashore."

Tazuna was silent for a moment while everyone looked at him expectantly. "Gatoh is the one after you, right?" Kagome suddenly said. "Gatoh, the marine transportation billionaire."

"Yes." Tazuna sighed. _'How the hell did she know that?!' _was the thought running through the ninja group's minds. "Guess I have to tell you the real story. Gatoh is one of the richest men in the world, president of a marine transportation company on the outside…but underground, he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does nasty things like takeovers of other countries and companies. A year ago, he set his sights on the Country of the Wave and entered this country using violence and wealth as his shield, taking over the island's sea traffic and transportation quickly.

On an island like the Country of the Wave, controlling the sea means ruling over wealth, politics, and people of this island. The one thing Gatoh is afraid of is the completion of the bridge that has been under construction for quite some time."

"So he fears you, because you are the expert building the bridge." Sakura said, finally getting it.

"Then those ninjas were sent by Gatoh." Sasuke said quietly.

"But I don't understand. He's a dangerous man that uses ninjas. Why did you hide that fact when you came to us?" Kakashi asked him.

"Financial problems." Kagome whispered, loud enough for only the five of them and Tazuna to hear.

"Exactly. We are a very poor country. Even the Feudal Lord has little money. We did not have enough for an expensive B-rank mission or above." Tazuna said. After guilt-tripping them, they agreed and he did his little victory sign, sneaking a smile when no one was looking. _'I won.' _he thought to himself.

"We're almost there." the rower announced.

"Thanks a lot." Tazuna said to him. They went under a tunnel, and when they emerged on the other side, it was bright and sunny. They got off the boat, glad they hadn't been noticed. "All right, take me home safely." Kakashi's mood darkened when he thought about the Jounin-level ninjas they would be sending. Naruto immediately got hyped-up and threw his shuriken into the bushes, thinking about how he wouldn't lose to Sasuke. Sakura yelled at him for putting them on false alert, while Kakashi tried to plead with him to not throw his kunai so recklessly. Kakashi and Kagome sensed something, and apparently, so did Naruto because he threw another kunai in that direction.

When nothing came out, Sakura bopped him on the head. "But I really did sense someone." Naruto whined, cradling his head in his hands. Kakashi went to investigate, and found a white rabbit on the ground twitching. Naruto went to the rabbit to apologize, but Kagome felt like there was something off about that rabbit.

"That rabbit…" she trailed off. Then it hit her. "Its fur!" _'It shouldn't be white. It's fur should have changed colour when winter ended. That means it was raised indoors away from light for one purpose.'_

Kakashi caught on. "Replacement technique…" he said, his eyes darting from side to side, looking for a person.

"Everyone, GET DOWN!" Kagome yelled, lunging for Tazuna and knocking him down. A huge knife/cleaver/kunai (I have no idea what it is) came flying from the trees and it hit a tree, gouging a deep hole where it rested. A ninja appeared on top of the sword, facing away from the group.

'_He's…' _"Momochi Zabuza, exiled ninja from the Hidden Village of the Mist." Kakashi said, addressing the enemy nin.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

_**Recap:**_

'_He__'__s__…'__"__Momochi Zabuza, exiled ninja from the Hidden Village of the Mist.__"__ Kakashi said, addressing the enemy nin. _

_**End Recap:**_

'_Exiled ninja? Who cares, I need to…On your mark, go!' _Naruto charged forwards, but Kakashi's hand stopped him. Kakashi didn't even look at Naruto, but kept looking at where Zabuza was. Zabuza had grey-ish skin with a leather strap that wrapped around his neck and attached to one side of his pants. He also wore black, grey and white arm warmers and blue striped cargo pants. His face was covered with bandages, his hitai-ate tied on one side of his head.

"You're in the way. Get back." Kakashi said, his tone harsh.

"Why?!" Naruto asked, incredulous and a little bit mad.

"He's way different than the guys we met before. If he's our enemy…I can't win like this." Kakashi raised his hand and touched his hitai-ate, his hand in a position so it would be easy to pull his hitai-ate up.

"I'm guessing you are Kakashi, the Sharingan user." Zabuza droned, looking and studying the group over his shoulder. Sasuke visibly stiffened and peered at Kakashi suspiciously when he heard the word Sharingan. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to hand over the geezer."

"Everyone, swastika formation. Protect Tazuna-san." Kakashi said, his hand still resting on his hitai-ate (for those that don't already know this, hitai-ate means forehead protector). "Don't join the battle."

"What?" Sakura asked, uncertain of what to do.

"To not interfere with the battle is teamwork." As he said, this, he started to pull up his hitai-ate. "Fight me…" There were gasps heard all around as Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate, and opened his eyes, revealing a red eye with three _tomoe_ (those comma-like things) surrounding the black pupil.

'_What's up with that eye?' _Naruto asked himself, thoroughly freaked out.

"I'm honoured that I can see the famous Sharingan I've heard so much about." Zabuza said in mock awe and humility.

"You guys keep saying Sharingan, but what is it?" Naruto asked/yelled.

"Sharingan….the eye creates it and it is the power the pupil generates." Sasuke started to explain. "It is said that doujutsu (eye technique users) can see through all genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu and also cancel their effects. Sharingan is one of the various types of eyes that doujutsu users possess. But that's not the only ability the Sharingan possesses."

"Correct." Zabuza said, from his perch on his sword. "That isn't all. The scary part is that the Sharingan can understand how an opponent's technique works, and copy it." When he finished speaking, everyone noticed that there was suddenly a heavy mist in the air. "When I was in the Hidden Village of the Mist's assassination squad, your information was listed in the bingo book I carried asking for your capture. It also said that you were the man who copied more than 1000 techniques, Kakashi the copy ninja.

Everyone was pretty much doubting that Kakashi could be that strong.

'_What? Kakashi-sensei was that great of a ninja?'_

"Wow!" Naruto yelled, amazed at the new information.

'_I don't understand…Sharingan is a special trait that only appears in a limited amount of people in the Uchiha clan. Could he be…?!' _Sasuke thought, confused.

"Let's cut the chit-chat." Zabuza said, crouching down on his sword. "I have to kill that geezer immediately." Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Kagome raced toward Tazuna, forming a protective circle around him. "But Kakashi, it looks like I have to defeat you first." With that, he pulled his sword out of the gouge in the tree and landed on the surface of the water in the nearby lake, one hand in the air, and one in front of his face.

"_**Mist Concealment**_." And with that, he disappeared, seeming to vanish into the mist itself.

"Sensei!"

"Momochi Zabuza, was in the ANBU known for his 'silent killing' techniques. AS the name implies, it's a killing technique that is executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence. It's possible that you may be dead before you realize it. I can't use my Sharingan to its fullest potential, so don't let your guard down." Naruto and Sakura were freaked out, while Sasuke had a thoughtful look on his face. Kagome kept her face blank, already knowing where Zabuza was and preparing for his attack.

A creepy voice came from the mist, echoing so that it was impossible to pinpoint where it had originated from. "8 points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, heart. Now, which organ do you want struck at?" Everyone now put up their guard even more, not wanting to die on their first serious mission. Kakashi put his hands together to form a seal and suddenly his chakra blew away the mist surrounding them by 2 metres, so that they could at least see each other.

Sasuke started to shake, feeling an intense thirst for blood. _'One breathing motion, or one eyes movement will be detected and it'll get me killed…That is the atmosphere I feel…' _Sasuke thought, his eyes wide, his body shaking even more. _'If I stay here for an hour, I'll lose my mind. The murderous intent of two Jounins clashing…the feeling that my life is in somebody else's hands…No! I would rather kill myself to escape this feeling…' _Sasuke put both hands on his kunai and got ready to plunge it into his own heart.

Suddenly a small hand wrapped around his wrist and he felt a hand on his forehead, sending him a wave of warmth and snapping him out of his trance. He turned and saw Kagome staring at him with determined eyes, the hands on his forehead and his wrist glowing purple. They sent a warm feeling through him, until he didn't feel the killer intent and he relaxed. She let go of him and resumed her position as rear guard.

"Sasuke." Sasuke snapped his head around to look at Kakashi. "Don't worry. I'll protect all of you with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die." he said, looking at Sasuke and smiling. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, but felt a bit more reassured. Suddenly Kagome tensed and Zabuza appeared in behind Sasuke.

"Oh? Is that so, Kakashi?" he said in a mocking tone.

"Yes it is. And I won't let you kill anyone on my team either." Kagome said in a low tone, her katana to his neck. She merely made a little cut on his neck before it turned to water. Zabuza appeared behind her, ready to cut her in half, but she had already disappeared, reappearing a couple metres away (what I mean is that she ran so fast that it looked like she disappeared, sort of how Lee is whenever he's fighting). Charging at him, she summoned her power of the elements and suddenly the entire blade of the katana was engulfed in flames. She ran it through Zabuza, but it was another water clone.

As soon as her katana touched the water clone, the water started to evaporate from the intense heat before it completely disappeared. She turned to see that he had engaged Kakashi in a fight, and started toward them but was stopped.

"Don't! Our mission is to protect Tazuna. I'll deal with Zabuza and you stay there in case more clones come. Got it?" Kakashi yelled. Kagome hesitated a moment before nodding and running to once again protect Tazuna's back. She watched as Kakashi got tricked and pretended to get kicked into the water so he could to refuge in it for a moment. Bad idea.

"Get out of there, sensei! It's an imprisonment technique!" Kagome yelled as soon as she recognized it. Kakashi's eyes widened and he tried to get out, but it was too late. Kagome quickly ran towards him, but was deterred by yet another clone. By then, Zabuza had already trapped their teacher in a ball of water. Kagome got rid of the water clone, and ran towards Zabuza, but was kicked backwards. In front of her stood a clone, yet this one was at least half, if not **more** of his strength. _'Oh shit.' _was all she could think of, since Zabuza had sent yet ANOTHER water clone towards the rest of her group, who probably couldn't handle it.

"You guys! Take Tazuna-san and run away! You have no chance against him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this water prison, he can't move! The water clone shouldn't be able to go very far from his real body. Run away now!"

'_Run away? Don't be ridiculous. That choice disappeared the moment you got caught. Even if we escape without you, we'll sooner or later be found and annihilated by Zabuza. For us to survive, we have to save you!' _was what Sasuke thought, but he had no ideas on how to do it.

Zabuza suddenly disappeared into the mist and reappeared in front of Naruto, who was kicked away by Zabuza, stepping on his hitai-ate. Naruto charged once again, but was kicked away.

"What were you thinking?! Even **Sasuke** couldn't do anything!" Sakura yelled, but she shut up after she saw that had had charged towards Zabuza in order to retrieve his hitai-ate.

"Guys!" Kagome yelled, her teammates focusing on her as she battled. "Calm down! Think of a plan! Do not under any circumstances lose your cool and do anything rash that may endanger Tazuna-san, your teammates or yourself!" They stared at her for a second before a grin spread across Naruto's face. Kagome let a small smirk cross her features before it vanished. _'I know what that grin means…It means Naruto's got a plan.'_ Kagome returned her attention to her battle, once again setting her katana ablaze.

"Hey, you eyebrow less freak. Add this to your bingo book. The man who will one day become Konoha's Hokage…Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto yelled at Zabuza. "Hey, Sasuke. Lend me your ear for a sec."

"What is it?"

"I have a plan."

'_A plan in this situation? He is…'_ Sasuke laughed. "Teamwork, from you?"

"What are you guys doing? Our mission is to protect Tazuna-san! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Run away!" They looked at Tazuna, who chuckled.

"What?" he said. "I planted this seed myself. Sorry guys. Fight as much as you want."

"You hear that?" Sasuke said, smirking.

"Are you ready?" Naruto shouted at Zabuza.

Zabuza laughed maniacally. "When I was your age, my hands were already dyed red with blood."

"Devil…Zabuza…" Kagome said from where she was battling.

"Oh? So you've heard a little about it." he said, chuckling.

"Long ago," Kakashi started, "in the Hidden Mist Village, often called Blood Mist Village, there was a final obstacle to becoming ninja…"

"Hm. So you even know about the graduation exam." Zabuza said, looking at him.

"Hey, what's this graduation exam thing?!" Naruto asked, a bit scared and freaked out at Zabuza's laugh.

"As a final test, there were fights to the deaths between students." Kagome said quietly. Everyone except Zabuza and Kakashi gasped.

"That's right. Friends who had trained and eaten at the same table were pitted against each other until one of them lost their life." Zabuza said.

"Horrible…" Sakura whispered.

"Ten years ago the Hidden Mist Village was forced to change this exam, the change happening after the previous year when an evil appeared."

"Change? What did this evil do?" Sakura asked, her eyes wide.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja killed over a hundred of that year's students."

"That sure was fun." Zabuza said, sighing. He suddenly appeared and stomped on Sasuke, who was on the ground. Naruto used his _**Shadow Clone Jutsu **_(Kage Bunshin no Jutsu) to make many copies and attack Zabuza. After being thrown off, Naruto rummaged in his pack and threw a large, collapsible shuriken to Sasuke who caught it and spun around, opening it.

"**Evil Wind Shuriken: **_**Shadow Windmill!**_" Sasuke threw it and to Zabuza's surprise, it curved around his clone and headed straight for him. He caught it with his free hand and laughed.

"Naive!" he shouted towards them. Sasuke only smirked.

Then Zabuza spotted a second shuriken that had been hiding in the shadow of the first one. For a moment, it looked like Zabuza was about to be hit, but at the very last second, he jumped over it.

"Smart, but still not enough." he said. The second shuriken turned into Naruto in a puff of smoke and he threw a kunai at Zabuza.

"Right there!" Naruto shouted, as the kunai traveled closer and closer to Zabuza.

(AN- Sorry, I know that this was a slow chapter, but it was necessary because it had so much information in it. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting…or at least it'll have more Kagome in it….maybe….)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

_**Recap:**_

"_Right there!__"__ Naruto shouted, as the kunai traveled closer and closer to Zabuza. _

_**End Recap**_

The blade traveled closer and closer to Zabuza's arm, everyone looking on with baited breath. Except Kagome, who was fighting the both her clone and the other Zabuza clone so that they wouldn't attack her team members behind their backs while Naruto was explaining what he and Sasuke had done. Sakura watched in amazement.

Kagome looked at the two clones and smiled evilly, making them shudder a bit (although Zabuza wouldn't ever admit that).

"Let's finish this." she said, smiling even wider. She put out her hands out in front of her, palms up and closed her eyes. The two clones looked at each other in confusion, but shrugged it off, running towards her to attack. All of a sudden, her eyes snapped open and she did many hand signs.

Finishing, she places her hands together in a prayer-like position before separating them so that there was a little space between her parallel hands. Between her hands, there was six, very small balls made of fire, water, earth, lightning, air, and one made out of pure white chakra. As the space in between her hands got bigger as she separated them, the balls also got bigger, until each one of the was around the size of her head.

"**Elemental Attack: **_**Death by the Elements!**_" And with that said, the balls flew towards the clones, and exploded, setting the clones on fire, drenching them with the force of a hydro pump, shocking them with lightning, crushing them with heavy dirt, whipping them around like rag dolls with air that had the strength of a twister and lastly, making them disappear as they were engulfed by the white chakra. She panted, exhausted. After all, she had been battling the clones for around an hour, and she couldn't use any of her other jutsus while her team could notice, so she was forced to pretend that she was having a really hard time. All the hits that Kagome took just for the sake of her disguise really hurt too, so she waited until her team wasn't focussed on her to do a jutsu. Unknown to her, there _had_ been someone watching, her special justu making their eyes widen in surprise.

Hearing Kakashi shout something behind her, she turned around to have millions of gallons of water almost crash onto her. Kagome raised her hands forward and controlled the water that was in front of her so that it flowed around her in stead of crashing onto her. Once it was safe, she gave a sigh of relief and headed to where Kakashi was, looking at Zabuza who was on the ground with two senbons in his neck.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked when she neared her group. She saw Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna staring at a boy in the trees. Kakashi was crouching down, checking Zabuza for a pulse. When there was none he looked at the boy who had, judging by their reaction, thrown the needles that killed Zabuza.

"You must be a hunter-nin from the Hidden Village of the Mist." Kakashi said.

"You are well informed."

"What? Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Naruto? You don't know? Hunter-nins are those who assassinate exiled ninja like Zabuza who, for some reason, go against the village they are born in. They do it to conceal any secrets of their village. This is common sense! You should study more!" Sakura said, going into her teacher-mode.

Furious, Naruto ran to the base of the tree and pointed at the kid yelling, "Who the hell are you?! Who are you?!"

"Calm down, Naruto. He's not an enemy." Kakashi said, standing up and also facing the hunter-nin.

"That's not what I'm asking! But…_Zabuza_ was killed! He…He was so strong, and yet he was killed so easily by a kid that's not so different from me! We…we look like idiots! I can't accept this!"

Kakashi walked forward until he was beside Naruto. "I understand how you can't believe it. But…this is real." He placed his hand on Naruto's head ruffling his hair. " In this world, there are kids who are younger than you…and stronger than me." The boy disappeared in a whirl of leaves and reappeared in the same manner next to Zabuza.

"Your battle ends here for now. Thank you very much for your help. I must go dispose of this body. It's a body filled with secrets. If you'll excuse me." He hoisted Zabuza's body over his shoulder and disappeared once again in a whirl of leaves.

"He disappeared!" Naruto said, still frustrated. Kakashi sighed and pulled his hitai-ate over his left eye once again.

"He's not here anymore." Kakashi said to Naruto, who had gone running up to the spot where they had disappeared. Naruto collapsed to his knees and started to punch the ground.

"What was that?! What were we…Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Kagome went up behind him and caught his raised fist.

"Sometimes, when you're a ninja things like this happens. If you don't like it, make up for it next time, If you are so beat up over the fact that someone as young as you beat up Zabuza so easily when you couldn't, then get better so that you **can** beat Zabuza easily." Kagome said harshly. Then she let go and watched as Naruto slowly put both hands on the ground and gritted his teeth.

Kakashi turned back towards where Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna were standing. "Our mission hasn't ended yet. We need to get Tazuna-san back to his house safely."

"Oh, yeah. You guys should rest at my house!" Tazuna said, laughing and smiling at them.

"All right, let's go!" Kakashi said, turning and walking. But he had not taken more than two steps when he stiffened and then started to collapse. Kagome quickly ran up and managed to catch him before he fell to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura yelled, running up to him.

"He's fine. He just overused his Sharingan, and it's taking a toll on his body. A little rest and he should be fine." Kagome explained, trying to stop Naruto from panicking.

"Do you need help carrying him?" Sasuke asked, surprising everyone. '_Sasuke-kun wants to help her?'_ Sakura thought to herself, inwardly fuming.

"No." Kagome said, and hoisted him up with ease. At there shocked stares she rolled her eyes and let a small smile cross her features before she put on a blank face once again, and looked over her shoulder to where they were still standing, looking at her. "Are you guys coming or what?" They broke out of their shock and walked towards where Tazuna pointed them to.

--

Kakashi woke up to find that he was resting in a futon in Tazuna's house. "Ahhh…I used my Sharingan too much…I'll barely be able to move for a week…"

Tazuna's daughter, Kairi, came over and peered at him, berating him when he tried to get up. Reluctantly, he laid back down. At this point, his students had entered. (I have no idea what Tazuna's daughter's real name is so I'm just going to call her Kairi.)

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei's up!" Naruto exclaimed, sitting down in front of the futon.

"Like I said…it was just exhaustion." Kagome muttered under her breath.

"Kakashi-sensei, the Sharingan is amazing, but it puts a lot of strain on the body. I'm not sure if it's good or bad." Sakura scolded, worried for her teacher.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi apologized.

"But you defeated such a strong ninja. We should be okay for a while." Tazuna said, in high spirits.

"That reminds me…Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza is still alive." Kagome said quietly.

"WHATTTTTTTT?!" Tazuna, Naruto and Sakura all yelled.

"I figured he would be…" Kakashi said, sighing. "How do you know?"

"Well at first I thought his actions were suspicious, so I ran over the details in my head while I was carrying you here. Then I went back to the clearing and near it I saw Zabuza up and alive, pulling the senbons from his neck while the fake hunter-nin watched, laughing and talking with him." The other three Genins stared at her. That was the longest she'd ever spoken.

"Oh….so that's where you went when you disappeared." Naruto said, realization dawning on him.

"What?! You went to the enemy by yourself? You could have gotten killed!" Kakashi said, his voice tight with anger at her disobedience.

"How can Zabuza be alive though? I thought you checked his pulse!" Sakura said, her voice high and squeaky at the thought that she may be facing Zabuza again (not that she actually did anything the first time.).

He sighed. "No. Hunter-nins and other pursuing know the structure of the human body very well. It would be easy for them to put a person into a near-death state."

"The senbons and how he took the body away were very suspicious." Kagome said, drawing all attention to her. "Senbons are very accurate, but are rarely fatal unless they pierce a vital organ. **Not **in the neck. As for the body, when he killed Zabuza, all he would need is the head for proof, but instead he took the body whole and disappeared."

"Exactly." Kakashi said, looking at Kagome. _'Where did she learn all of this?! This shouldn't be information that a Genin should know. I'd better go ask Hokage-sama about this…'_

"Sensei, how are you going to prepare for this before it's too late?" Sakura asked in a desperate tone. "You can't move for a while…" She became puzzled when he laughed.

"I'm going to make all of you go through some training." he announced.

"Wait a minute! Even if we train it's not going to be very helpful since the enemy is a ninja that you, Kakashi-sensei, a Sharingan user had trouble with!" Sakura protested loudly. _'Damn straight! Are you trying to kill us?!' _Inner Sakura yelled.

"Sakura," Kakashi drawled, "who saved me when I was having a difficult time? You three are growing at a rapid rate. Especially you, Naruto." At the mention of his name Naruto snapped to attention. "You've grown the most." Kakashi said, giving him a smile. Sakura studied Naruto for a couple moments.

"You can tell? Things are going to get interesting now!" Naruto yelled, bubbling with enthusiasm.

"No they aren't." a glum voice said behind him. The ninjas turned around to see a small boy probably 7 or 8 years old, a striped hat covering his brown hair.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, pointing.

"Ah! Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna exclaimed, happy.

"Welcome home, grandpa." Inari said, going over to hug him.

"Inari! Say hello to them. These are the ninjas that escorted grandpa." Kairi scolded.

"Mom, they're going to die. There's no way a person can win by going against Gatoh." Inari said to his mom.

Naruto jumped up. "What did you say, you brat? Listen up. I'm a superhero that's going to become a great ninja known as Hokage! I don't know who this Gatoh or Chocolat is but he's no enemy of mine!"

Inari scoffed. "Hero? How stupid. There's no such thing as a hero."

"What did you say?" Naruto choked out, trying to run at the kid but getting restrained by Sakura.

"If you don't want do die, you should go home." Inari said, then he turned around to address hid grandpa. "I'm going to watch the ocean." While the others stared at the door, Kagome quietly retreated to the shadows and poofed herself away to the roof of the house.

Applying chakra to her feet, she walked down the side of the house and peek into Inari's room through the open window. He was sitting on his desk staring at a picture of a man who had an x-shaped scar on his chin while crying.

"Dad…." he sobbed out, tears landing on the picture frame.

"Is that your dad?" Inari looked up, shocked to see Kagome standing upside down outside his window, her feet attached to the top of the widow frame by chakra. "Can I come in?" He nodded, still too shocked to talk. "Listen…did your dad…die?"

Inari looked away from her piercing gaze and looked at the picture of his father. "Gatoh killed him."

_Where Kakashi-sensei and the rest of Team Seven are deep in the forest…_

"We will now begin the training." Kakashi said in a upbeat voice. Sakura explained about chakra and Kakashi praised her on her smarts. "The amount of energy you need to use for techniques differ from the type of technique you wish to execute. You are not able to use you chakra effectively yet. You're going to learn how to control and balance your chakra with your body by putting yourself through life-risking training."

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked for all of them.

"Climb a tree."

"Climb a tree?!" they all shouted, disbelief colouring their voices at the stupid-sounding exercise.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

_**Recap:**_

"_Climb a tree?!__"__ they all shouted, disbelief colouring their voices at the stupid-sounding exercise. _

_**End Recap**_

"Yes. BUT…it is not normal tree climbing. You're going to climb without using your hands." Kakashi said.

Everyone looked like they didn't believe him. "How are we going to do that?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Just watch." Kakashi put his hands together in a seal and the dust by his feet was kicked up. He hobbled over on his crutches to the nearby tree and started walking up it, crutches and all.

"He's climbing…." Naruto started.

"…Vertically with only his legs." Sakura finished for him.

"This is how. Gather your chakra to your feet and make it attach to the tree trunk."

"Wait! How are we supposed to learn how to control our chakra by doing something like that?" Sakura asked, outraged.

"The purpose of this exercise is to concentrate the right amount of chakra to the right location. This is difficult even for a well-trained ninja. The amount of chakra need to climb a tree is quite subtle, and the most difficult place to concentrate chakra to is the feet. In other words, if you are able to master this, you can do any technique. Well, I need you all to learn with your bodies, so get to it." Then he threw four kunai down. "Use these to mark the spot where you got to before you fell off."

"Then why did you throw four?" Sakura asked, confused.

"So there's one for Naruto, one for Sasuke, one for you and one for Kago-. Hey, where's Kagome?!" Kakashi asked, panic filling his voice. Suddenly there was a poof and Kagome was directly under where he was in the tree.

"I'm right here."

"Where did you go?" Kakashi asked, his eyes narrowing.

"To have a little talk with Inari. What's going on?" Kagome asked. Ever since she had been put in Team Seven, she had been talking more and more until it was almost natural. _**Almost**_.

"We're climbing trees only using our feet!" Naruto shouted, pumped up. Kagome shrugged and nodded. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura closed their eyes and concentrated their chakra to their feet. Then they all grabbed a kunai and ran for a tree. Naruto took one step on the trunk and promptly fell backwards on his head. Sasuke made it up a little farther but put too much in and the trunk cracked under his feet, forcing him to make a cut and flip backwards back onto the ground.

"This is easier than I thought!" Sakura shouted from a high branch. She was around halfway up the tree.

"Wow, you're awesome Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted. Sakura looked at Sasuke, hopeful but got no compliments, so she hung her head.

"What's wrong Kagome?" Kakashi asked, wondering why she had not tried to run up the tree also.

"Can I train by myself? I've already done this before." Kagome asked quietly, looking up at her sensei.

"Look, I'll make a deal with you. If you can climb all the way to the top on your first try, you can do anything you want for the rest of the day." Kakashi said, smiling. Kagome nodded. They all watched with baited breath as she walked, yes…_**walked**_**, **up the tree with ease. Her eyes weren't even open for crying out loud! She made it all the way to the top and looked down at her team.

"A deal's a deal." Kakashi said, sighing. Kagome nodded once again and jumped off the treetop. Everyone gasped and Kakashi could only watch with wide eyes as she plunged headfirst towards the ground. She got closer…and closer…and flipped so that her feet touched down onto the ground softly. Everyone let out the breath that they had been holding. Unbeknownst to them, Inari had been watching and he trudged away quietly.

"Whoa. I had no idea Kagome was that good." Naruto said, a look of complete and total shock couple with admiration on his face as Kagome walked away, deeper into the forest. Sakura pouted and huffed now that all the attention was no longer on her. Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other before once again trying to run up the tree.

_The next day…_

Sakura yawned, bored as she sat by herself watching Tazuna and the other builders, who were constructing the bridge.

"You look bored sitting by yourself." Tazuna said, walking past her with a metal bar on his shoulder. "Where's the blonde kid, the girl shortie and the arrogant guy?"

"They're training with a climbing tree exercise." she said offhandedly.

"What about you?"

"I'm smart, so Kakashi-sensei told me to guard you." Sakura boasted, smirking.

"Really?" Tazuna asked, not believing her and raising an eyebrow. A man came up to him and asked to resign from building the bridge. After he finished talking with him, trying to reason with him, Tazuna walked away, saying that he couldn't stop building the bridge no matter what. It was lunchtime, so Tazuna took a break, walking away from the cowardly man who tried to resign.

_In the forest where they were training…_

Kakashi had already gone back to Tazuna's home to rest but Sasuke and Naruto were still trying to climb all the way to the top of the tree. After once again failing to climb to the top, Naruto huffed and walked away.

"Where are you going, dobe (dead last)?" Sasuke asked, a smirk on his face.

"Don't call me that! I'm going to ask Kagome what her secret is on climbing the tree." Naruto said, heading for the direction that he had seen Kagome head towards. Sasuke blinked, before following Naruto. When he saw Naruto staring at something with his mouth open in amazement, Sasuke walked over to where he was and stared at the general direction the Naruto was staring at.

**Naruto POV**

'_Holy shit!'_ was all I could think of as I saw Kagome surrounded by many clones of herself. She was currently sparring with them, using weapons made of her own glowing white chakra. I watched as she formed a kunai out of her chakra and flung it at a clone behind her back.

She fluidly moved her arm in an arc, forming a bow made of chakra in the air and grabbing it. Kagome pulled the glowing bowstring back and released it, 5 arrows appearing and one by one her clones started to disappear until there were only ten left. She had obviously been doing this for a long time because she was panting. She formed a dagger and ran forward, plunging it through the body of the clone and then, not even facing backwards stabbing at the air behind her, where a clone had suddenly appeared. It disappeared with a poof. Reforming the chakra dagger, Kagome turned the dagger into a long, thin spear and threw it at the remaining clones. It went through all of them and they also poofed out of existence.

She stood there panting, but looking happy with her results before stiffening and looking at the bushes where me and Sasuke were currently hiding.

"Naruto, Sasuke, what are you doing? Spying on me?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes.

**End Naruto POV**

They walked out of the bushes, Naruto looking like he had been caught stealing something and Sasuke looking indifferent.

"Where did you learn all that?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"That's what you came to ask me?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow. There was a moment of silence before she answered. "I taught myself."

"Wow! Can you teach me?" At this Sasuke straightened, wondering if she would say yes.

"Did you really come to ask me this?" Kagome asked Naruto and Sasuke lazily, looking as if she had not been doing extensive training.

"Oh, right! I came to ask you, how do you concentrate your chakra so that you can stick to the tree and walk up it without falling off?"

Kagome blinked. "That's what you came to ask me? Oh. First, you have to relax. Then, gather your energy or your chakra to your feet and concentrate a constant amount of chakra to your feet. Then focus on where you want to go. That would be the tree."

"Ohhh…thanks a lot for the advice 'Gome!" Naruto yelled, as he ran back to his tree. Sasuke followed at a much slower pace, his hands in his pockets.

Kagome shook her head before going back to training. _'Gome?'_

_Back to where Sakura and Tazuna are…_

"PERVERT!!" Sakura screamed, kicking the man so that he fell on his face, unconscious. There was a loud _BOOM _heard.

Sakura walked through the street, steaming when she felt another hand touch her butt. She got ready to kick some ass, but stopped when she saw a small, innocent looking kid in rags.

"Give me?" the small child asked, holding out her hands and looking hopeful. Sakura looked at her for a moment before digging in her bag and putting candy into the girl's hands. She was rewarded with a huge smile.

"This is how it's been since Gatoh took over. Everyday there are more and more parents abandoning their children in he streets because they have no food or money." Tazuna said, looking sadly at the people on the street. "That is why we must finish building this bridge. So that everything will return to normal. Every_one_."

--

"Ah…it's been a while since I've had this many people over for dinner." Tazuna said, looking at everyone at the table with a smile. Sasuke and Naruto scarfed down their food and yelling for more. They glared at each other over the table before turning around and puking.

"If you're going to puke it out anyway, don't eat!" Sakura screamed, annoyed by their idiotic behaviour.

"No, I'll eat." Sasuke said, wiping his mouth.

"Yeah, we need our energy for the tree climbing." Naruto said, grinning.

_After dinner and finding out about Inari's dad_……(I'm not going to explain it, so to make a long story short, Inari's dad was the hero of the village, but Gatoh killed him to take away people's hope's. His dad was beaten by hired men who hit him many times with huge, heavy hammers, crushing him. Then he executed him in front of the entire town, crushing their hopes. )

Naruto had gone to climb more trees, so that he could prove that there were heroes to Inari. Inari had run out of the house, his mother following.

Kagome opened the door to Inari's room, and sat down next to him on his desk, staring at the sea with him.

"If you're here to comfort me or something, just leave, because I don't want your pity." Inari mumbled, looking down at the picture of his dad.

"I'm not here to pity you and say false words of comfort, if that's what you mean. I'm here because I wanted to look at the sea with you." Kagome said, looking out the window. "You know, there are some people who have never experienced the love of a parent. Yet, those people push themselves to do amazing things and come to be loved by everyone." After staring at the sea with him for a few more minutes, Kagome got up and walked out of his room, heading for her temporary one. She paused at the door way giving him a quiet "Goodnight." before disappearing from view.

Inari didn't turn around, but as he watched the sea, he also said a quiet, "Goodnight…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

_**Recap:**_

_Inari didn't turn around, but as he watched the sea, he also said a quiet, __"__Goodnight__…"_

_**End Recap**_

_2 days later…_

Haku, the fake Hunter-nin, kneeled down next to a sleeping Naruto, who was passed out on the forest floor. His hand lingered over Naruto's neck in the strangling position before going to his shoulder and shaking him roughly.

_At Tazuna's house…_

"Good morning." Sakura yawned, rubbing her eyes.

"So, Naruto didn't come back last night either?" Tazuna asked, looking at the table.

"He's stupid, so he's been climbing trees by himself every night. He's probably dead from excessive chakra use." Sakura said, looking like she could care less about him.

"Is Naruto okay? A child staying out all night by himself…" Kairi (Tazuna's daughter) asked.

"There's no need to worry. He is a decent ninja, even if he doesn't look like one." Kakashi said in a cheery voice.

"I'm leaving. Thanks for the food." Kagome said, getting up from the table and leaving out the door. But before she could take even five steps away, Inari came running out of the house. He grabbed her sleeve, making her look down at him.

"Can I…go with you?" he asked shyly. Kagome looked stunned, but quickly recovered and nodded. They left together in a comfortable silence.

"…Inari?" Kairi trailed off with wide eyes. That was the first time in ages that Inari had stayed in the same place with someone for more than an hour. It was also the first time in ages that he had actually _wanted _someone to stay with him.

"Seems little Inari has taken a liking to Kagome." Kakashi said, smiling. Tazuna and Kairi simply looked at the now empty doorway with wide eyes.

Sasuke got up and headed for the door. "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"I'm…going for a walk."

"What about breakfast?" Sakura said, looking at his plate. She twitched and gave a freaked-out smile when she saw that the plate was empty. "Fast…"

_In the forest with Naruto…_

Haku shook the sleeping ninja's shoulder. "You're going to catch a cold if you sleep there."

Naruto woke up and flopped into a sitting position. "Who're you?" Then he looked closer and blushed, mistaking Haku for a girl. "Did you wake me up, nee-chan (older sister)? By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Picking herbs."

"Herbs?"

"Yes, it's to cure illnesses and injuries." Haku said, smiling.

"Why are you doing such a tedious job in the morning?" Naruto asked, helping him pick herbs.

"What are _**you **_doing here so early in the morning?" Haku countered Naruto's question with his own question.

Naruto grinned. "Training!"

Haku looked surprised. "Are you a ninja or something? That hitai-ate…"

"Do I look like one? Do I look like one?" Naruto asked eagerly. "Yes! I'm a ninja!"

"Wow, you're amazing." Haku said, smiling. After a long talk with Haku, Haku straightened and brushed some dirt off and picking up his basket.

"You….will become strong." Haku said, turning and walking away. "Let's meet again somewhere." Naruto nodded with a grin on his face. "Oh, by the way, "Haku said, stopping. "I'm a man." Then he walked away and out of sight.

Naruto's jaw dropped. _'How?! He's cuter than Sakura-chan!'_

--

Sasuke walked towards where Naruto would be, and passed Haku. He stopped and looked at his back before continuing on and punching Naruto in the head, who was pondering the mysteries of the world ever since he found out that Haku was a man.

"Ouch, what are you doing?!" Naruto cried, cradling his head.

"Did you forget about breakfast, you idiot?" Sasuke twitched when he saw Naruto smirking at him.

_With Kagome and Inari…_

"Okay, listen Inari. I'm going to give you this stone. You see the way it's glowing purple?" Inari nodded, holding the stone as if it were a precious jewel. "Well, when you're in danger, hold this stone and call my name, okay? It's infused with some of my energy, so I'll know and come help you. It only works for one time so don't waste it, got it?"

Kagome smiled when Inari nodded quickly, still holding the stone carefully. "Come on, let's get home for dinner. Your mom's probably worried since we already skipped lunch." Inari was still quiet and withdrawn, but he looked a little happier, and that made Kagome happy as well.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Inari asked while they were walking.

"Because, you are important to me, your grandpa, your mom and the villagers. And we protect people that are important to us." Inari's eyes widened until they couldn't possibly get any wider but he kept silent, looking down at the ground.

On the way back, Kagome spotted Naruto hanging upside-down from a tree branch and her eyes widened when he fell. Sasuke thankfully stepped in, but even he didn't have much chakra left, so Kagome quickly ran in and threw a piece of rope so that it looped around the tree branch and wrapped around Sasuke's leg at the same time. Then she slowly lowered the rope until they crumpled softly onto the ground.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura thanked Kagome for saving 'her' Sasuke-kun. Kakashi just looked happy that they didn't get seriously injured by falling from that high. Kakashi and Sakura headed back with them, Sasuke and Naruto staying to keep trying to climb up to the top of the tree.

--

As they were eating, Sasuke suddenly walked into the room, supporting Naruto. They both were dirty and tired, but they looked oddly pleased with themselves.

"We both climbed to the very top!" Naruto said happily.

"Naruto, Sasuke, you guys guard Tazuna-san next time as well." Naruto, overeager waved his arm that was not being supported, wildly, causing both of them to fall over. Chuckles were heard all around.

Inari looked at Naruto, noting how tired and beat up he looked, then at his plate sullenly, remember his father and how he had been killed, his father smiling until the last moment.

"Why….why are you trying so hard that you end up like that?" Inari yelled, tears leaking out. "You can't beat Gatoh's men even if you train! No matter how hard you try and say those nice-sounding words…weak people are going to lose against strong people!"

Everyone stared at him. "Shut up, I'm different from you." Naruto said, laying his head back onto the table.

Inari cried even harder and shouted even louder. "Shut up! It pisses me off when I watch you! You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being so nosy! I'm different from you, someone who doesn't know any real pain and just laughs all the time!"

Naruto's tone darkened. "Is that why you're pretending to be the main character of a tragedy and just crying? An idiot like you can just keep crying. You crybaby!"

"Naruto! That's too much." Sakura lashed out. Naruto simply got up from the table and left.

_Out at the back of the house…_

Kagome sat down next to Inari and looked out at the water and the sky with him.

"Naruto didn't say those words out of spite. He's stubborn. He also grew up without a father. Actually, he doesn't know what parents are. He also didn't have a single friend." Kagome said quietly. Inari looked at her shocked. "He grew up hated by most of the villagers. All his childhood, he was alone, being called a monster by everyone. No one would even go near him. However, I've never seen him cry, get sulky or grow timid."

"Really?" Inari asked, getting over his immediate shock. Kagome nodded.

"Yup. He was always desperate to make people recognize him. And he's able to put his life on the line for that dream. He's probably tired of crying now." Inari looked at Kagome, before looking down at his feet. "That's probably why he knows the true meaning of strength. Just like your father. Naruto might be the one who understands you most. What Naruto said to you before were probably the words that he's been telling himself over and over again."

"That's just stupid." Inari mumbled. "He'll just end up getting killed in the end." Even as he said that, Kagome saw that he was a little less sad and a little more hopeful.

"Well, like your dad said, 'protect what is important to you with your own two arms, no matter how tough it is, even if it costs you your life.' That's what I plan to do, Inari. Me, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. We're going to protect you, your grandpa and this whole town so that the bridge can be competed and these people can have a new hope that this town can be saved." Kagome finished talking and stood up, brushing off her pants. "Goodnight, Inari."

Inari watched Kagome leave with wide eyes, before he resumed watching the sea. "Goodnight…"

Kakashi chuckled. He had been standing near them, hidden behind a wall. "I can't believe Kagome told him the exact words I was going to say to Inari. Although, it sounds like she understood exactly what Naruto went through…"

_The next morning…_

"Please look after Naruto for us." Kakashi said, exiting the house with Sasuke and Sakura. Kagome had decided to stay with Naruto saying, "You know he's probably going to wake up, then panic because we left him behind and get lost in the forest. I'll stay with him so that I can guide him to the bridge."

Sure enough, Naruto woke up and in a flurry of clothes, changed, ran outside and started to jump from tree to tree to the bridge. Kagome followed, sighing.

--

When Tazuna got to the bridge, he yelled out in surprise, seeing all his workers lying facedown, beaten up.

"What happened?" he yelled.

'_It can't be…'_ Kakashi thought, his brows furrowed. A heavy mist surrounded the bridge, and Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura surrounded Tazuna.

"He's shaking again. How pitiful." Zabuza said, his clones appearing out of the mist, surrounding their protective circle. Sasuke simply smirked.

"I'm shaking with excitement." In a matter of seconds, Sasuke wiped out all of the clones, turning them into harmless water.

"Oh? He can defeat the water clones. He got stronger. A rival for you, Haku." Zabuza said, appearing a couple feet away from Kakashi with the fake Hunter-nin beside him.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven:_

_**Recap:**_

"_I__'__m shaking with excitement.__"__ In a matter of seconds, Sasuke wiped out all of the clones, turning them into harmless water. _

"_Oh? He can defeat the water clones. He got stronger. A rival for you, Haku.__"__ Zabuza said, appearing a couple feet away from Kakashi with the fake Hunter-nin beside him. _

_**End Recap**_

"Oh? Aren't you guys surprised to see Haku working with me?" Zabuza asked, gesturing to the Hunter-nin.

"Not really. We already knew he was working with you." Kakashi said, bored. They continued their little staring contest for a while longer before Sasuke decided to step up.

"I'll fight him."

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"He pulled that stupid act on us…I hate conceited guys like that." Sasuke said, pissed off.

"You're so cool, Sasuke-kun." Sakura gushed, and she blushed and giggled. Kakashi sweat dropped, exasperated.

"Sakura never corrects Sasuke…"

"He's quite a boy." Haku praised. "Even if a water clone only has one-tenth of the original person's power…He dealt with those clones well."

"But we made the first move. Go." Zabuza ordered.

"Yes sir." Haku said, then he raced toward Sasuke.

_With Naruto and Kagome…_

"Something's not right." Kagome whispered, looking at the damage around her as they passed through the forest.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, oblivious to everything except the idea of going to the bridge.

"Why are there dead boars and cut up things everywhere? Naruto something's not right. I'm going to go back and-" Suddenly she was cut off by the Shikon no Tama glowing a bright white. "Oh, SHIT! Naruto, go on without me, Inari and his mom are in danger!"

Naruto looked shocked, but nodded anyways. Kagome raced back towards Tazuna's house.

_On the bridge…_

"I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off, right?" Haku asked, battling Sasuke with his kunai.

"What are you, stupid?" he countered with a cocky smirk on his face.

"As I thought…" They were both struggling to overpower each other. "But you won't be able to keep up with me for my next move." Haku started doing a bunch of one-handed seals, when he finished, he stomped the puddle on the ground, making the water fly into the air. "_**Flying Water of a Thousand Kills.**_" The water that had been kicked up was suspended in the air, sharpening into deadly spikes.

'_Remember the training!' _Sasuke thought, closing his eyes and making the hand sign that he had used to concentrate chakra to the bottom of his feet for the tree-climbing. _'Mould up chakra immediately…' _The needle sharp spikes zeroed in on their target, traveling closer…and closer…

_At Tazuna's house…_

The two swordsmen finished their cut on what they thought was Inari, sheathing their swords.

The turned around to see a cut-up log and Inari's mother gone. "Where'd the woman go?!"

"Sorry for being late." Kagome said quietly to Inari, who she was carrying. She set Kairi n the ground carefully.

"Kagome nee-chan (sister)! You came!" Inari said, amazed. He was holding onto the stone she had given him, the white glow gone.

"Of course I did." Kagome replied laughing. "I promised, didn't I? By the way, you did a good job. You got their attention so I could save your mom. Now, to deal with these scumbags." Kagome said, facing the two swordsmen with a terrifying expression on her face that would rival Sesshomaru's expression when he was pissed off.

They smirked and took out their swords. Kagome smirked back and took out her katanas, choosing the surround them with water and then use her powers over the wind to freeze the water into ice. Now she had a thick sheet of ice over her katanas. In one swift move, she had both her katanas to their throats.

"Retreat or die." she stated coldly.

"We'll never be beaten by a little girl like you." one of them snarled at her.

"Wrong answer." Kagome made a small cut on their throats. They looked at her, surprised before their looks turned into one of horror and they started clawing at the necks, trying to get off the ice that had originated from that one small cut. Soon their entire necks were covered with ice. It was all in vain, and they keeled over, dead from their windpipes freezing shut so they couldn't get any air. She turned to Inari, who looked shocked, but he regained his composure when Kagome shook his shoulder a little.

"Inari? Listen to me. I want you to go and gather up all the villagers and bring them to the bridge. I have a feeling that Gatoh will try and play dirty." Inari looked at her for a moment before nodding and running off. Kagome transported Kairi back to the house, putting her in her bed upstairs before once again, running off to the bridge.

When Kagome reached the bridge, she saw Naruto go into a demon rage, Sasuke lying facedown on the ground inside a weird space with mirrors everywhere and Kakashi surrounded by a thick mist, Zabuza nowhere in sight. Just as Naruto broke Haku's mask the mirrors shattered, and Naruto went in for the killing blow. His crimson eyes were blind with rage so Kagome ran behind him, sticking a sacred sutra on his back, nearly puking from the clear bloodlust and killer intent in the air. It had negative effects on her other than immense fear because her holy powers were rejecting the feeling.

The effects were immediate. Naruto blinked, his eyes returning to the normal bright blue, the fox's dark, evil energy and crimson chakra retracting back into Naruto's body because of the sutra that sealed it.

"What's wrong Naruto? Kill me." Haku said, giving him a bloody smile. "I have failed, and now I am no longer of any use to him. Zabuza-san does not need a weak ninja."

Naruto spent some time arguing with him, while Kagome went to Tazuna, parrying an attack that could have killed Kakashi. Kakashi summoned his nin-dogs. They went underground and tracked Kakashi's blood on Zabuza, which had gotten there when Kakashi had taken a hit on purpose, under the pretence that he was protecting Sakura and Tazuna.

When the dogs succeeded in immobilizing Zabuza, Kakashi grabbed his right forearm with his left hand and gathered his chakra in his right hand. The sound of many chirping birds filled the air as his chakra formed into a bright, crackling blue ball of energy.

"Lightning Edge! Your ambition sacrifices too many people. Your future is…death." Kakashi said, the blue ball of chakra still in his hands.

"Naruto. Please kill me." Haku said, reminiscing past memories of his happy days with Zabuza. As he waited for the finishing blow, Haku had a feeling that Zabuza was in danger, so he quickly jumped to him and took the Chidori (you know, the ball of crackling blue energy…) that Kakashi meant for Zabuza. Before Haku died, he grabbed Kakashi's hand and held him in place.

"My future is death? You're wrong again, Kakashi." Zabuza said, laughing. "Splendid, Haku." He gave a great battle cry and swung his sword at Kakashi. "I sure picked up something great. He gave me this great opportunity at the very end." Zabuza didn't seem to be even a little sad that Haku just died to save him.

Kakashi dodged and jumped away with Haku, who had held tight to his arm, even in death. He set Haku down and closed his eyes. "Naruto! Stay there and watch! This is my fight."

"Naruto, are you okay? Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura shouted. When there was no answer she was mortified and ran with Tazuna to where the Ice Mirrors used to be. When she saw Sasuke, lying down from the needles and Kagome leaning over him, she cried and hugged his body, feeling how cold he was.

Kagome then felt something under her hand when she checked his pulse. His heart was still beating. It was faint, but he was still alive. "Sakura, move! He's still alive. I can heal him a bit!" Sakura's eyes widened, and she didn't move because she was paralyzed from shock. Kagome gently shoved her over and bent her hands over Sasuke's chest, sending her purple healing miko energy into Sasuke. She then proceeded to pull out the senbons in his body and heal those injuries too.

After a while, Sasuke started to breath and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Kagome. For healing Sasuke-kun." Kagome gave Sakura, who had let tears of happiness slide down her cheeks, a small smile and nodded. She stiffened and looked across the bridge, seeing Zabuza's arms hanging limply at his side, useless and Kakashi staring at Gatoh.

"Zabuza, I'm disappointed in you."

"Gatoh, why are you here? And what's with all those subordinates behind you?!" Zabuza shouted.

"We had a little change in plans. I'm sorry but Zabuza, you're going to die here." Gatoh said, smirking evilly.

"What?!" Zabuza said dangerously.

"If I hire regular ninjas it would cost a lot of money. So I hire exiled ninjas like you. If you ninjas had just killed each other, it would have saved me trouble and money. And you call yourself Demon of the Hidden Mist? You're more like a cute little devil to me!" Gatoh said in a mocking tone. The mob of hired people behind him laughed.

"Kakashi, sorry but the battle ends here." Zabuza said. "Since I don't have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have lost the reason to fight you."

"Yeah, you're right." Kakashi said, crouching down. They watched together as Gatoh walked up to Haku and started to kick his face for breaking his arm.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted trying to run to Haku. "What the hell are you doing to Haku?! Hey, Zabuza, you really don't feel anything for Haku even though he DIED to save you?!"

"Shut up, kid. Haku's already dead."

"You really don't feel anything about what he did?! You were with him for a long time weren't you?!" Naruto shouted.

"Like Gatoh was using me, I was using Haku." Zabuza said bluntly. "Like I said before, us ninjas are just tools. I wanted his abilities, not him. I have no regrets."

"You…do you really mean that?" Naruto asked in a serious tone.

"Stop it, Naruto. We don't have to fight him anymore." Kakashi said, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto shrugged it off.

"Shut up! He's still my enemy! He…he really liked you! And you really don't think anything of him?!" Naruto's memories of his conversation with Haku ran through his head. "Do you really…really not think anything of him?! When a person becomes as strong as you, do they start to think like that? He…he sacrificed his life for you! He couldn't even see his own dream. Dying…as a tool…is just…" Tears started to come out as he yelled this to Zabuza. "It's just…just…Too painful…" Kagome made Naruto lift his head to look at Zabuza, pointing at the floor in front of the exiled-nin.

"Kid." Naruto saw tears fall to the floor in front of Zabuza, He was also crying. "Don't say anymore…Haku…not only did he heart his heart to fight for me, he hurt his heart for you guys. I know. He was to kind. I'm glad we were able to fight you guys as our last opponents. Yes, it's just like you said, kid. Ninjas are human too. They might not be able to become tools without emotions. I lose." Zabuza said with a smile on his face. He tore off the bandages covering his mouth and nose with his teeth, since both of his arms were useless, courtesy of Kakashi. "Kid! Give me your kunai!"

Naruto nodded and tossed it to Zabuza, who caught it with his teeth. Gatoh yelled out In fear and ran behind his mob, shouting "Kill those guys!" Zabuza ran through the entire crowd, killing some who got in his way, but not without sustaining any injuries himself. He ran straight up to Gatoh and stabbed him with his kunai. But Gatoh's men stabbed him with spears behind his back. The pain making him let go of the kunai.

"If you really want to go where your friend is, go by yourself!" Gatoh yelled, happy that he was still alive.

'Unfortunately, I don't intent to go to the same place as Haku. You're going to hell with me!" Zabuza yelled, smiling evilly. Grabbing the kunai from Gatoh's body, he cut him many times and killed him, the last cut sending Gatoh off the bridge and into the water. Zabuza's glare made the mob of people yell out and make a path for him. Zabuza struggled to get to Haku's side, falling down before he got to his side.

Sasuke woke up, wondering if he had died. He heard Sakura crying and, when she saw him awake, she gasped.

"Sakura….you're heavy." She immediately got up off him and stared at his face in disbelief.

"Sasuke-kun, thank god you're up! Kagome healed you, but said it would be some time before you would." Sakura hugged him. Tazuna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where's Naruto? And that masked kid…"

"The masked ninja is…dead." Sakura said.

"Did Naruto kill him?" Sasuke asked. Sakura shook her head.

"I don't know all the details, but…"

"Kakashi killed him. Haku jumped in to take a blow for Zabuza that would have killed him,. But it killed Haku instead." Kagome cut in, appearing in front of them.

Sakura shouted to Naruto, who still didn't know that Sasuke was alive. "Naruto! Sasuke's okay!" Naruto let out tears of happiness and chuckled a bit. The mob got angry, forgotten.

"Hey, hey, hey! Did you forget about us?! You damn ninjas, you killed our pay source! Let's go!" They charged forwards to the tired ninjas who didn't have any energy left. Suddenly, an arrow landed in front of the crowd, who quickly stopped. The ninjas looked behind them, and saw Inari with all the townspeople, all of them carrying some sort of weapon.

"Anyone who gets closer, will die facing the island!" one of the townspeople shouted. Kagome walked over to Inari, who was carrying a crossbow.

"Good job." she whispered. Inari gave her a big grin. She put her hands up in a hand seal. "_**Kage Bunshin no Justu!**_" Suddenly, a huge crowd of Kagomes appeared. "Who wants to be first?" they all asked, smiling. Kakashi and Naruto did it too, so the entire bridge was filled with shadow clones. Gatoh's ex-henchmen all screamed like little girls and ran off the bridge towards their boat and sailed away, scared.

"We did it!" Everyone gave a great shout, and Kakashi walked up to Zabuza. Kakashi pulled out the spears and carried Zabuza to Haku, setting him down beside him. It was snowing. "Thanks, Kakashi."

"Snow? At this time of the year?"

"Haku, are you crying? We've been together all this time…so I'll die next to you as well. If possible, I want to go to the same place you're going to…" Even as it was snowing, the sun shone through the clouds, and made the bridge a bit brighter.

"He….he was born in a village where it always snowed." Naruto said, tears running down his cheeks.

"Is that so?" Kakashi said, looking at Zabuza and Haku. "He was pure like the snow."

--

Zabuza and Haku were buried in graves right next to each other.

"Kakashi-sensei, do all ninjas have to be the way they said?" Sakura asked, paying respects to their graves.

"Ninjas are not supposed to seek their reason to exist. It is important that they exist as a tool. That idea exists in Konoha, too." Kakashi said, as Sakura got up and walked back to their group.

"Does being a real ninja really mean that? I….kind of…don't like that." Naruto said.

"Do you think that too?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.

"Hm…no. That's why ninjas unconsciously suffer from that idea. Like Zabuza and that boy." Kakashi said, looking the graves.

"Okay! I've decided. I'm going to follow my own 'way of the ninja'. I'm going to run straight down the path where I won't have any regrets!" Naruto shouted.

"That's a good way to live." Kagome said quietly, smiling.

--

"We've completed the bridge thank to you, but we're going to miss you." Tazuna said, the entire town gathered there to see the ninjas off.

"Be well." Tazuna's daughter said.

"Thank you for everything." Kakashi said.

"Now, now, old man Tazuna, we'll come back to visit you one day." Naruto reassured them. Inari looked close to crying.

"Promise?" he asked.

"Inari…you're going to get lonely…it's okay to cry…" Naruto also looked close to tears.

"I'm not going to cry! You can cry too, Naruto nii-chan." Inari said, his eyes watering. They looked at each other for a while longer, their eyes filling up with tears. Before Naruto could full out cry he turned around.

"See ya." he said, crying so that Inari couldn't see him with his back turned. Kagome sweat dropped. They left the village, and Tazuna decided to name the bridge, the Great Naruto Bridge, because he changed Inari's and everyone's hearts. Naruto plotted getting Iruka-sensei to treat him to ramen, and Sakura asked Sasuke on a date and got turned down, again.


	12. Chapter 12

Just to clear things up a little for the last chapter, a lot of people have been confused as to how Naruto was the one who helped Tazuna and Inari, when I wrote that it was Kagome. Well, Naruto was technically the one to help them, Kagome was just there to explain things to Inari. Naruto had the most overall effect on Inari.

Chapter Twelve:

Team Seven had saved the Country of the Waves and gotten back home. Naruto ran towards the team meeting spot, and said good morning to Sakura, but only glared at Sasuke.

'_They've been like this ever since they got back from the mission.'_ Sakura thought to herself, exasperated.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed. Everyone was tired of waiting except Sasuke. He was thinking about the conversation he had with Kakashi.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_Sasuke walked up to Kakashi when they were alone and asked the question that had been on his mind for the entire mission._

"_Kakashi, who is Kagome?" _

"_Well, Kagome is a part of Team Seven. Age, 12. Height, 5"1. Blood type, O." Kakashi trailed off at the glare Sasuke gave him. _

"_Kagome has white chakra. WHITE. And she used this weird jutsu using all of the elements that completely wiped out the Zabuza clones she was battling. Naruto and me both saw it. Plus she made some weapons out of her chakra and Sakura told me she healed me with some purple energy. Kagome can also wield her katanas that sometimes has flames surround them." Sasuke said, still glaring at Kakashi. "And I looked up 'Higurashi' in the library and there have been no records of her family's existence. Ever." _

_Kakashi sighed at his student's perceptiveness. "I don't know anything about her more than you do. In fact, you know more about her than me. What was that about a jutsu using the elements?" _

"_She did this weird combination of hand signs and then I saw that in between her hands there were six balls of water, fire, earth, air, lightning and one of her pure white chakra." Sasuke explained what he saw. "It completely wiped out the enemy's clones."_

_Kakashi looked deep in thought. "I'm going to talk to the Hokage about her. But for now, don't show any sign that you're suspicious about her and don't tell anyone what you told me." Sasuke nodded. _

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

Kakashi poofed to the top of the bridge and raised his hand in greeting. "Yo! I was walking, but I saw an old lady that needed help with her bags so I-"

"LIAR!!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

"Well today, you have a lot of missions, so let's go." Kakashi said, turning and walking.

"Wait, what about Kagome?" Sakura asked, looking around for her black-haired teammate.

"Oh, she has to talk to the Hokage about something, so she told me that probably wouldn't make it to the missions." Kakashi said. And so they began the missions. Naruto pulled out some lady's herbs instead of her weeds and got beat up. When they were picking up trash from the river, Naruto slipped and almost fell down the waterfall if not for Sasuke saving him. Naruto got pulled into a mine field by a huge dog he was supposed to walk while Sasuke and Sakura sighed, standing with their small dogs.

"You guys need to work on your teamwork." Kakashi said, sighing.

"Yeah, you keep disturbing our teamwork, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"That would be you, idiot. And if you don't want to owe me anymore then become better than me." Sasuke said without even looking back. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke when he saw a crow circling over his head, meaning that he needed to meet with the other people at the Hokage Tower.

Sakura ran after Sasuke and stopped him. "Um…Sasuke-kun, do you wan to work on our teamwork together?"

"You're the same as Naruto. If you have the time to chase after me, then go train or something. In fact, you're worse than Naruto." Sasuke said bluntly. He turned and walked away, leaving a depressed Sakura.

_At the Hokage's Tower…_

"Kagome? What's wrong?" Sarutobi (the Hokage) asked her, folding his arms under his chin.

"I found something…disturbing." Kagome said hesitantly. "On Gatoh's back, I saw a spider-shaped scar. The mark of Naraku."

"Does that mean he's going to attack you for the Shikon no Tama soon?" the Hokage asked in a somber tone.

"Well, considering how useless Gatoh was, I'd say that Naraku is still weak but he's getting stronger. Sarutobi sighed.

"Okay, thanks for the information. I have a meeting right now about the Chuunin exams, so I have to talk to you again later." Kagome nodded, and left through the window, leaving the Hokage alone.

_With Naruto…_

Konohamaru was running away from Sakura's wrath, when he bumped into something. '_Or someone…'_ Konohamaru thought, when that thing picked him up by the scruff of his clothes.

"That hurt." The person had black clothes with a cat-ears hood and he had purple face paint. Next to him was a girl with four ponytails and light clothes, carrying a huge fan on her back.

"Stop it Kankurou." Temari (the girl with four ponytails) said. "We're going to get scolded later."

"Hey! Let go of him!" Naruto shouted. Sakura was scared because she didn't know who these people were.

"I want to play around before some noisy people come." Kankurou said, smiling wickedly. Then he noticed a girl beside him who had appeared out of nowhere. She was glaring at him coldly.

"Let him go, or I _**make**_ you let him go." Kagome said, her voice icy. Kankurou smirked.

"Just go ahead and try girly."

"Oi, Kankurou, stop-" Temari was cut off by a yell from her teammate. Kankurou was cradling a broken wrist and Konohamaru was back with Naruto and his friends. Kagome was now in front of them, still staring at them icily. Kankurou ran towards Kagome, yelling but was stopped when a rock pierced his foot.

Sasuke was sitting on the nearby tree branch, juggling two rocks. Kankurou cursed.

"More brats."

Kagome looked at him coolly, then she stiffened and turned toward the tree where Sasuke was. A moment later, Gaara appeared, hanging upside-down from the branch next to Sasuke. He had blood-red hair, teal eyes and had the Chinese character for 'love' etched on the side of his forehead. No one else had noticed him yet. Gaara looked at Kagome curiously, before turning to his teammates and speaking out.

"Kankurou, stop." Everyone looked at him. "You're a disgrace to our village. What do you think we came to Konoha for?"

"Gaara, they started it and-"

"Shut up. I'll kill you." Gaara glared at him.

"Got it. It was my fault. Sorry."

Gaara turned towards Sasuke and Kagome. "Apologies to you guys."

'_To be able to hit Kankurou with a rock so easily…he's good. And that girl…she broke his wrist in a split second without him even noticing…'_

"Let's go." Gaara said coldly. Disappearing from the branch and reappearing next to his teammates in a whirl of sand, he walked away from the Konoha group. The other two started to follow him, but they were stopped by Sakura.

"Wait! Judging from your hitai-ates you guys are from the Hidden Village of the Sand. Our countries may be allies, but it is forbidden to enter other villages without permission. What-" Sakura was cut of by Kagome.

"You guys are here for the Chuunin exams, right?" Temari nodded and started to walk away, yet again. And they were stopped yet again.

"Hey, you there. What's your name?" Sasuke asked. Temari blushed.

"Me?"

"No, the one next to you with the gourd." Sasuke said.

Gaara turned. "Gaara of the Desert. I'm also interested in you and the girl. Your names?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Haruno Sak-" Sakura was happy because she thought he meant her, but her happiness turned to outrage when Gaara turned and looked at Kagome.

"Not you. The other girl." Kagome looked at him blankly.

"Higurashi…Kagome." Gaara nodded and walked away, this time getting farther than two steps. Three ninjas from the Sound Village were looking at Team Seven from some trees.

"What do you think?" the guy on the side asked.

"Nothing serious, but…the black-haired girl and guy from Leaf and the one from Sand with the gourd…Let's keep our eyes on them." the one with bandages asked.

_The next day, once again at the bridge for a meeting…_

After waiting for hours once again, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, good morning. I got lost on the road of life." he said cheerily.

"Sure, LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled.

"This might be a little sudden, but I've nominated you guys for the Chuunin Exams." Kakashi said, handing them each an application. "But, this just an application. It's up to you whether or not you want to take the exam. Those who want to, fill out the paper and take it to the school in room 301 by 3 p.m. six days from now. It is up to each individual."

Kagome, Sasuke and Naruto were absolutely sure that they were going to take it, but Sakura was reluctant. It was going too fast, and she couldn't keep up with her teammates.

Iruka made them all go through a test before he reluctantly agreed to let them take the Chuunin exams. There were still six days before the Chuunin Exams.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

Team Seven was walking down the halls to hand in their application forms. Sakura was still a little uneasy, but made a choice to attend with Sasuke, Naruto and Kagome.

"You plan to take the Chuunin Exams like that?" Team Seven walked to the noise and saw two kids kicking a guy with a green spandex suit and thick eyebrows to the floor. His teammate, a girl with two buns in her hair, helped him to a sitting position.

"Please let us through." the girl with buns (Ten-Ten) said. The guys punched her away and she also fell to the floor. "The Chuunin Exams are hard. We're being kind by warning you."

"You'll let us pass through. Either that or take off the crappy genjutsu. We're going to the third floor." Sasuke said, confident.

"So you noticed?" the two kids at the door said.

"Sakura, Kagome, you guys must have noticed first. Out of the entire team, Sakura's genjutsu knowledge and Kagome's analytical abilities are the best." Sakura looked surprised. Then she smiled, breaking out of her uneasiness.

"Of course I noticed, this is only the second floor!" Sakura said proudly.

"Heh. Not bad…But, all you did was see through it!" One of the two flipped and tried to kick Sasuke, and Sasuke quickly reacted, throwing a kick of his own. Before the two attacks could connect, two blurs stopped them. Kagome was holding the unknown kids leg, while the guy with thick eyebrows was holding Sasuke's leg. He looked surprised that Kagome had stopped the other guy with the same amount of speed as him. _'Fast!'_

'_He stopped my kick. What's with the chakra in his arms?'_

"I thought you were the one who wanted to keep a low profile." his teammate said. His teammate had pale eyes and long hair.

"But.." the guy with thick eyebrows said. He looked at Sakura with a blush and went up to her. "My name is Rock Lee. So yours is Sakura…Let's go out together. I'll protect you until I die."

"Absolutely not." Sakura said, creeped out. "You're lame."

"Hey, you what's your name?" the one with pale eyes asked Sasuke. Naruto was mad that someone had asked for Sasuke's name, yet again and not his.

"You should give your own name before asking someone else's. " Sasuke replied.

"You're a rookie, right?" Pale-Eyes asked.

"I don't have to answer you." Sasuke's answer pissed Lee's teammate off. Lee and Naruto looked dejected.

Kagome sighed. Pale-Eyes looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Higurashi Kagome. Yours?" she asked, bored.

"Hyuuga Neji." _'Ah…Hinata's last name is Hyuuga…'_

"Nice to meet you. He's Uchiha Sasuke." Kagome said, pointing at Sasuke's back where his family crest (the fan) was.

"Come on you guys, let's go!" Sakura said, and she set off with her team beside her.

"Higurashi Kagome and Uchiha Sasuke, huh." Kagome looked back at the two people who had been blocking the door. As she walked past them, she whispered, "I know you two are Chuunins. I also know that you guys are the examiners. A couple of them anyway. You might want to try better genjutsus for your disguises." They stared after her with wide eyes.

Behind a door, they transformed back into the adults they were. "Looks like this years Exams will be interesting."

They walked into a large room, where Lee asked Sasuke for a match.

"You're an angel." Lee said to Sakura, winking and blowing hearts at her. She dodged them frantically. Naruto was pissed off that once again he was ignored in favour of Sasuke. He stopped them before Sasuke started to fight Lee and said that he would fight 'Fuzzy-Brows' first. Naruto charged blindly forward at Lee. He was quickly thrown into a wall by Lee.

Sasuke used his Sharingan to try and see Lee's moves, trying to see if it was a trick of ninjutsu or genjutsu. It was neither. Lee used the Primary Lotus on Sasuke, or at least he tried. He was stopped by a large, talking tortoise.

"Stop right there, Lee!" the tortoise said. Sakura caught Sasuke and Lee somersaulted and landed neatly on his feet in front of the animal. "Lee that move is forbidden." The tortoise then proceeded to scold Lee.

Naruto looked confused. He ran to where his teammates were. "Hey, hey. That's a turtle right? Can a turtle become a teacher?"

"How the hell would I know?!" Sakura yelled.

"That's a tortoise, and no he's not Lee's teacher. That's probably a summon animal." They turned their heads toward Lee and the tortoise, hearing a weird noise and they saw a guy poof onto the tortoise in the weirdest position ever. It took everything Kagome had to not puke up her lunch. The others had wide eyes and open mouths, looking at him with pure shock and disgust. It was like an older version of Lee with thicker eyebrows.

"An even weirder guy showed up!" Naruto shouted.

"Super weird and super…unique bobbed hair…" Sakura said, scarred for life.

"…and super thick eyebrows…" Naruto finished for her. "This is the first time I've seen something like that…"

"Hey! Don't make fun of Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted at them angrily.

"The hell I won't! We don't know how to react because of all these weird things!" Naruto shouted back, pissed off.

"What did you say?!" Lee shouted.

"Stop it, Lee." Gai said. Lee turned back to his teacher who punched him in the face. Lee went flying. "You….idiot!!" Team Seven looked at them with wide eyes, not sure how to react to a teacher punching his student. Sasuke just looked disgusted. They embraced under the setting sun, Gai saying that he forgives Lee. Sasuke and Kagome were really close to puking.

'_I lost to that guy…" _Sasuke thought, mad at himself.

"Now, run 100 laps at the training ground in the sunset!" Gai told Lee, tears running down his face.

"Hey, wait! What are you going to do about the Chuunin Exams? There isn't any time left!" Sakura told him.

"Oh, right. Lee, I'll punish you after the Exams, okay? Do 500 laps!" Gai said happily.

"Yes, sir!" Lee said, mirroring Gai's expression. Gai looked at Team Seven. _'They're Kakashi's students…'_

"Agh! It's looking over here!" Sakura said when she saw Gai looking at them.

"You four, is Kakashi doing well?" he asked them.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't just know him…" Gai said, putting his hand under his chin and chuckling. "People call us eternal rivals."

"That sounds so fake!!" Naruto and Sakura yelled. Lee, outraged, spluttered a few words at them. Sasuke looked at Lee and Gai. One second Gai was next to Lee, the next he wasn't. Kagome turned around to look behind her. Gai suddenly appeared behind them in a puff of smoke.

"The record stands at 50 wins to 49 losses." he boasted, scaring the shit out of the other three Genin. Kagome just looked at him blankly, bored as hell.

"When did he…?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Let me just tell you guys this, I'm stronger than Kakashi." Gai said, smiling. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Come on,. We don't have much time left. We have to go." she said to the others. They nodded weakly and filed after her, still shocked by Gai's comment.

'_He's stronger than Kakashi?! Damn…he's not bluffing…' _Sasuke thought.

--

Kakashi met them at the door to the examination room. "Good it looks like you're all here."

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? I thought you said it was the individual's decision." Sakura asked.

"You enter the examination in teams of three. There is an exception, since this year there was an uneven amount of Genins, so you had to take it in a group of four. If one of you had not come, you would not be able to take the exam. I said that it was the individual's decision but that was because if I had said that you enter in teams, Sasuke and Naruto would have pressured Kagome and Sakura to come."

"So what would happen if I didn't come?" Sakura asked.

"I would have prohibited you guys from entering. Well anyway, Sakura. Naruto. Sasuke. And Kagome. Well done. I'm proud of you guys. You're part of my team. Now, go." Kakashi said, stepping aside to let them pass through the doors. Sasuke and Sakura each opened a door and went in. Looking around, they saw many, many, MANY people staring at them. The entire room was filled. Sakura was looking uneasy again.

"Sasuke-kun! You're late!" Ino said, hugging him from behind.

"INO-PIG, GET OFF SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura shouted, pointing at Ino. _Guess she should be fine.'_ Kagome thought, happy that Sakura was no longer worried.

"What, you guys are taking this troublesome exam too?" Shikamaru asked, walking towards them with Chouji following.

"What? It's the idiot trio!" Naruto said, mocking them.

"Stop calling us that! How annoying…" Shikamaru said. Naruto gave little intros for everyone in his head.

"Yo! Looks like everyone's here!" Kiba said, Akamaru perched on top of his head. Shino and Hinata walked behind him.

"H-hello." Hinata greeted quietly. She saw Kagome a bit farther back from the group, standing by herself and looking intently at the crowd. Cautiously, she walked up to Kagome and greeted her too. "Hello, H-Higurashi-san."

Kagome smiled at her. "Hello, Hyuuga-san. Please don't use honorifics and just call me Kagome."

"Then please just call me Hinata." All the rookies looked at Kagome with amazement except for Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. They had already heard Kagome talk before.

"Hey, you guys should keep it down." A guy with grey-silver hair said. He walked over to them. "So…you guys are the Rookie Ten who just graduated from the Academy, right? You're all fooling around…Geez, this isn't a field trip."

"Who are you to tell us that?!" Ino asked, outraged.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto. And look around you…" Everyone was staring at their group. "Everyone is tense since it's right before the exam. I warned you so you wouldn't get picked on. It can't be helped though, since you guys are rookies who don't know anything."

"Kabuto-san, was it? So is it your first time in the Chuunin Exams?" Sakura asked.

"No. It's my seventh."

"Is the Chuunin Exams really that hard? How troublesome." Shikamaru said, sighing.

"You must know a lot about the exams then."

"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information with my recognition cards." Kabuto said, pulling out a deck of cards. "Basically it's cards that have information burned into them by my chakra." He demonstrated by putting his chakra into one. There was a puff of smoke and suddenly they were staring at a map.

"Are there any cards that have detailed information on people?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Is there someone who interests you?" Kabuto asked with a smirk. "I have information on most people, including you ten rookies. Tell me about them and I'll look them up for you."

"Gaara of the Sand. Rock Lee from Konoha. And Higurashi Kagome, also from Konoha." At the last name, everyone stared at Sasuke weirdly, but he took no notice, focusing on Kabuto who had picked three cards from his deck.

"Okay, first is Rock Lee. He's one year older than you. Mission experience, 20 D-rank, 11 C-rank. Team leader is Gai. His taijutsu skills have increased drastically, but his other skills are terrible. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie but didn't take the Chuunin Exam. This is his first time, like you guys. His teammates are Tenten and Hyuuga Neji." Kagome looked at Hinata when Neji's name was mentioned. Kabuto continued. "Next, Gaara of the Desert. Mission experience: 8 C-rank, 1 B-rank. This is his first time taking the exam and he's a foreign ninja so I don't have much information on him, but he completed all his missions successfully unharmed."

"He did a B-rank as a Genin and was unharmed?" Shikamaru said, looking shocked.

"Lastly, Higurashi Kagome. Mission experience: 23 D-rank, 1 C-rank. The C-rank was later classified as a B-rank. I have…no other information on her." Kabuto said, looking up at Kagome with a frown on his face. Sasuke and the other rookies looked at Kagome who looked unperplexed about the information on her. It was more like she expected it. Kabuto explained about the Genins, and told them how all the ninjas here for the exam were top elites chosen by their country.

Kakashi was still outside, thinking of how his students must be scared. Inside, Sakura looked at Naruto with concern, Naruto was shaking.

He turned and yelled. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I won't lose to you guys!" Sasuke and Kagome smirked while Sakura yelled and apologized to the crowd for his behaviour. Everyone still glared and stared at Naruto and the group of Rookies. Three Sound-nins tried to Kabuto, throwing kunai which he dodged. He also dodged a kick meant for him. But his glasses somehow got cracked and he threw up.

Everyone looked at Kabuto, shocked when a huge puff of smoke alerted them to see a crowd of ninjas at the front of the room.

"Quiet down! You punks!" the man at the front said with a smirk. His hitai-ate was on his forehead, the cloth part of it covering his entire head. He also had scars on his face. "I'm the examiner for the first part of the Chuunin Exams, Morino Ibiki."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen:

_**Recap:**_

"_Quiet down! You punks!__"__ the man at the front said with a smirk. His hitai-ate was on his forehead, the cloth part of it covering his entire head. He also had scars on his face. __"__I__'__m the examiner for the first part of the Chuunin Exams, Morino Ibiki.__"_

_**End Recap**_

**Kagome POV**

I didn't even bother listening as Morino Ibiki explained the rules of the test. The message was obvious. Cheat, but don't get caught. I almost gave a little smile at Naruto's panicked face, Sasuke and Sakura giving him a death glare from behind when it was said that if anyone got a zero the whole team would fail. It didn't really matter to me, after all, I was here to kill Naraku, not for anything else.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and copied the movement of the guy in front of him. I watched, interested as Neji concentrated, and when his eyes opened, there were veins on the sides of his eyes. It was….odd, since it looked like he was looking right through the person in front of him. I looked over at his teammate, I think her name was Tenten. She was constantly playing with her fingers and when I saw the light shine off the threads, I followed them to the ceiling where she was adjusting mirrors.

Giving a sigh I looked at my own test sheet. The questions were easy to me, but would be extremely difficult for Naruto. I could just answer them, but what fun would there be in that? Carefully, I used my powers over the elements and taking a page out of Tenten and Haku's books, I created an ice mirror in the air above the class. I also cast a genjutsu around it so no one would be able to notice it unless they had superior abilities in the genjutsu field. Adjusting it, I took in all the answers and wrote them down, dissolving the mirror back into water vapour and releasing the genjutsu.

Since I finished the test in minutes I decided to look around some more. Gaara was holding one of his eyes closed, and looking ahead of him, the guy in front was rubbing his eyes while an eye hovered above his paper turning this way and that. One of the Sound-nins that attacked Kabuto had his eyes closed and was obviously listening to the sounds around him and getting the answers from that.

'_This is getting boring…' _I thought, looking out the window beside me. I saw a woman around Kakashi's age, writing something on a huge black….curtain-looking thing. A slight breeze floated into the room and I stiffened. I felt the faint presence of Naraku on that woman. It wasn't her that was Naraku, no it wasn't that. She felt familiar to one of Naraku's offspring. Since I sensed no ill-intent from the woman (only amusement) I decided to let it go.

I stared at the clouds with a wistful expression on my face, not knowing that someone was watching me. I was too busy daydreaming about how things would be if I had never gone down the damn well in the first place. But then, I wouldn't have been able to meet so many people. I had a little internal battle with myself. (why does everyone watch Kagome?)

I then realized that the examiner was saying something, but I only caught some words of, "….If you fail, you will stay a Genin forever. Choose to not take the tenth question….." I snorted. Ibiki was only saying all this so he could get some people to chicken out.

Then Naruto slammed his hand onto the desk and yelled, "Screw you! I'm not going to run away!! I'll take this problem. Even if I stay Genin forever, I'm still going to be Hokage, no matter what, anyway! I'm not scared." I nearly laughed outright. In fact, I had a hard time keeping my emotionless face on. Everyone around the room got more confident as they listened to Naruto. I knew what was going to happen next and nearly smirked when Ibiki said,

"Everyone here….passes!" Everyone's eyes bugged out, or their jaws dropped. He explained that the first nine questions were how to test if you could gather information without being caught. He took off his hitai-ate to show his head. There were numerous scars, and burn marks. It really made me want to puke, no matter how ready I was for it. Getting incorrect information could put your teammates in danger, and that's what happened to him.

People started grumbling about the final question and how they didn't get it. "The final question is the main part of the First Exam. It was a take or not take choice. Let's say you take a mission and you have no information on whether or not there are traps and no information on who or what the enemy can do. Do you accept this mission or not? Just because your life and the lives of you teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid doing this dangerous mission? The answer is….no. There are missions that carry heavy risks and cannot be avoided. The ability to show courage to your teammates, and the ability to get through a bad situation. That is what we look for in a Chuunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation…those who give up when the future is uncertain, fools like that have no right to become Chuunins."

I gave a snort. It was so obvious this was going to happen, compared with the last times he gave the Chuunin Exam. Yes, I looked up his file. It's not like it was hard. My thoughts were disrupted when the woman who had been writing on the black curtain like thing came crashing through the window shouting things like, 'Don't let down your guard!' and 'Follow me to the second part of the Exam!'. I tuned out after that. After all, I knew where we were going. We were going into the 44th training grounds, the Forest of Death.

**End Kagome POV**

_The Next Day…At Hokage Tower…_

**Kakashi POV**

"So, how is your group doing in the Chuunin Exams so far, Kakashi?" the Hokage asked, chuckling at my serious expression.

"You know that's not what I came for, Hokage-sama." I growled. This was the first time I had been pissed off in a long time. "Who is Kagome? She's certainly not a normal Genin."

"Kagome is….well let's just call it, one-of-a-kind. In fact, the only one of her kind." He added the last part under his breath, giving a knowing smile. I was definitely not amused. "Why do you ask?"

"Kagome has been demonstrating…abilities beyond what she should know." I said, choosing my words carefully.

"Abilities?" At his surprised tone, I confirmed it. This was new information to him too. That feeling definitely did not help my ever-growing suspicion of my student.

"Yes. Sasuke approached me some days ago, asking…well…demanding to know about Kagome." The Hokage's eyebrows raised. "He apparently, has seen her use some sort of special jutsu. He described it as a 'weird jutsu using all of the elements to wipe out the Zabuza clones she was battling'. Sasuke also told me that she had white chakra, but Sakura had told him that when Kagome had been healing him, the energy used had been purple."

The Hokage's eyebrows rose a bit further. "Interesting. Has he told you anything else?"

"Sasuke searched the library archives for some information on the name 'Higurashi'. There have been no records of their existence in Konoha ever." I told him, my eyes narrowing. "And…..she can make weapons out her chakra." The Hokage sighed.

"Did he tell you anything about the jutsu?" he asked.

"Doesn't Kagome tell you what she can do?" I asked. I was stunned. All the times she had meetings with the Hokage, she had never told him about her jutsus? About anything?

"No. She's very secretive."

"Then how do you know she is not a spy for another ninja village?!" I grinded my teeth together.

"Kakashi. I know exactly what Kagome is in the village for."

"So she really is a spy?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"NO." I swear the Hokage rolled his eyes at me. "Contrary to popular belief, Kagome is actually here to save a whole lot of lives. In fact, pretty much the whole world." I gave the Hokage a skeptical look. He chuckled. "For now, I want you to just observe her for me. You know, in case she does something….out of the ordinary."

"Out of the ordinary? How about appearing in your office out of nowhere three years ago?!"

The Hokage laughed. "I was sworn to secrecy by Kagome. The first thing she told me was that information on her was for Hokage's eyes and ears only." The only thing heard was a hiss from me at my quick intake of breath. "Yes. It is that classified."

"So, if you died, and there was a new Hokage, she would tell the new Hokage everything?" I asked, interested.

The Hokage contemplated this for a bit. "I guess. The one thing that I can tell you is, that she is one of the purest people alive. And will not harm another human being, unless it is under extreme circumstances, and she believes that their souls cannot be saved. It goes against her very nature to kill mercilessly."

My eyes widened. _'Against…her nature…to harm a human being?'_

"If you are so worried about her, why don't you just try and spy on her? You do know where her house is…" the Hokage said, trailing off and raising an eyebrow.

I nervously shuffled my feet before replying, "I tried to, but every time I try to go within 50 metres of the house, I meet a barrier that I can't pass."

"Barrier?!" Now the Hokage looked alarmed. "People only put up barriers when they have something to hide, or something to hide from."

**End Kakashi POV**

_In the Forest of Death…_

**Sakura POV**

If there was one way to describe the situation we were in, I would say that we were in deep shit. We had all gotten separated by an explosion, so Kagome and Naruto were now god-knows-where, but luckily me and Sasuke had been able to meet up. Some person pretending to be Naruto came up to us, and transformed into the creepy Grass-nin that we had seen at the briefing. She or he (I'm not too sure what it was) had handed back a kunai to Anko, the next examiner, with her impossible long and creepy tongue.

Right now, we were immobilized by the eyes of the Grass-nin. Just looking at his eyes, we felt like we were being torn apart, and getting hit and scratched. It was a genjutsu, too powerful for us to break. I was shaking badly, not even noticing the tears that came out of my eyes. Blinded by fear, I couldn't even move as a kunai thrown by the ninja in front of us traveled closer and closer to getting imbedded into my forehead. Suddenly, I felt something hit me, but not in the direction I was expecting. In fact, I was expecting an instant death, but this pain felt more dull, like something had hit me hard enough to give me a bad bruise.

I looked in the direction of where it had come from and saw Sasuke had carried me away from the attack after plunging a kunai into his own leg to be able to move. It was at times like this that I wish I was more like Kagome, so I could heal Sasuke and be able to be strong enough to battle with enemy-nins. Sure, I didn't particularly like her, but she was always strong. Always brave. Always so…perfect.

**End Sakura POV**

_With Naruto…_

Naruto was currently stuck inside the stomach of a huge snake. No jokes. And the only thought that had run through his mind when he had seen the snake was, _'Holy fuck! Huge snake!!' _Not the smartest thing to think, but this was Naruto. He watched his rice ball be dissolved by the snake's stomach acid. He was going to die here. That thought filled him with despair, and he was ready to give up when Kagome's words came back to him.

"_If you are so beat up over the fact that someone as young as you beat up Zabuza so easily when you couldn't, then get better so that you __**can**__ beat Zabuza easily."_

He was supposed to become Hokage. He was supposed to gain the villagers recognition. He was not supposed to die being swallowed by a fucking huge snake. Putting his hands together for his favourite move, he yelled out, "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_"

He made so many shadow clones, that the snake burst into pieces, the pieces scattering everywhere.

_With Kagome…_

Kagome was currently running through the forest muttering some colourful curses under her breath while looking for her teammates. And why was she doing this? Because some goddamn idiot decided it would be fun to try and blow up the particular piece of forest they used to be in, scattering them into different parts of the forest. Since Kagome was the lightest, she was flung the furthest. She kept checking her holster for the Heaven scroll. Before the second part of the Exam had officially started, Sasuke had decided to give it to her to keep because, since he was the number one Rookie, everyone would expect him to keep it.

In a way, this worked to her advantage. Kagome would be able to take scrolls from the other teams and not draw attention to herself. It wouldn't be good to display her skills in front of other people that would be suspicious. It might lead to an investigation, and the Hokage had specifically told her to not get caught. No, it would not be good at all if she were caught.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

_**Recap:**_

_In a way, this worked to her advantage. Kagome would be able to take scrolls from the other teams and not draw attention to herself. It wouldn't be good to display her skills in front of other people that might get suspicious. It might lead to an investigation, and the Hokage had specifically told her to not get caught. No, it would not be good at all if she were caught. _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome had been running for around an hour in the forest and still had not found her team. She hissed in frustration. Kagome knew she was going the right way, after all, she could feel the auras of Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto. Suddenly, Naruto's aura fluctuated violently and Kagome got worried. It changed a bit, and Kagome could feel the Kyuubi's aura start to seep into Naruto's polluting his mind until he had the instincts of an animal.

Kagome had to stop suddenly due to the fact that she had almost ran straight into Neji. She was in a clearing with him, but she also noticed three other people, hiding behind a bush. Focusing on each individual aura, she recognized that Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji were hiding behind the bush. Raising an eyebrow, she turned back to Neji who was staring at her with a confused look on his face. His Byakugan was activated.

"Why do you have chakra concentrated on your ankles?" he asked, puzzled. Kagome undid one of the bandages on her calves and he saw a seal on her ankle that said weight. He raised an eyebrow. "How heavy?"

Kagome didn't need to ask what he meant. "250 pounds on each leg." His eyes widened. Then he smirked. This time it was Kagome's turn to raise an eyebrow. He got into a defensive position. Kagome gave a small smile and mirrored his position. This might be interesting.

They were suddenly surrounded by three Rock-nins, who decided to foolishly attack first. Kagome twirled and spun to avoid attacks, dishing out a few of her own when her opponent's left themselves open. Neji was using his Byakugan to see the opponent's chakra points and block them. After a couple more minutes, Kagome started to get pissed off.

'_Just stay down, you freaks!'_ she thought, after having to dodge an attack made from one of the ninjas she had just struck down. She decided that she had had enough, Kagome jumped into a tree branch and did a series of seals. "**Fire Element: **_**Blazing Barrier.**_" she whispered. Kagome blew out a steady stream of fire, surrounding the enemy and forming bars around them, so they had no means of escape. It was slowly burning away their much needed air.

"Alright! We'll give you our scroll, just let us go!" one of the ninjas cried. After they left their Heaven scroll on the ground with trembling fingers, Kagome undid her jutsu and watched them run away screaming. She glanced at Neji. They had worked surprisingly well together, which was a bit…odd.

"Stop hiding and come out." Neji called, forcing Shikamaru's team out into the opening. Kagome almost laughed out loud when Ino tried to 'charm' Neji. "Begone." Ino and Shikamaru quickly jumped away, dragging Chouji behind them.

Neji turned to Kagome and tried to hand her the scroll, but she refused. "It's yours. I don't need it." She turned and walked away, but not before giving him a small bow and a smile. Luckily for Neji, Kagome had already turned away before she could she the faintest hint of pink spread across his cheeks before returning to its normal colour.

"Don't need it, huh? Interesting person." Neji muttered, smirking and jumping away to his team's meeting spot.

_Kagome…_

Kagome was once again running through the forest. She passed by some snake remains, and she could faintly sense that Naruto had been there. Kagome stopped out of interest when she felt the auras of Gaara and his team, plus the faint auras of Hinata's team. Placing a barrier around herself, so no one could see, hear or smell her or feel her chakra she approached them. (Only mikos or people with strong spiritual powers can sense auras.)

The first thing she saw was three people so wrapped up in sand that only their faces showed. Gaara was about to crush them, when he felt his bloodlust slowly disappearing. For the first time in a while, he did not want to kill someone. But he quickly finished the job. Clenching his hand into a fist, the three people in front of him were killed and pieces of them were scattered onto the ground below. Blood splattered everywhere, except for on Gaara, whose sand shield protected him.

Kagome shuddered. As he raised his hand in the direction of where Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino were hiding Kagome tensed, ready to intervene, but luckily Kankurou and Temari managed to convince him to not kill anymore. Even though she knew it was stupid, and Gaara wouldn't see her anyway, Kagome landed in front of him and bowed, her barrier still up.

Kagome knew that her aura was comforting Gaara, and purifying Shukaku's youki so that he wouldn't feel Shukaku's strong bloodlust.

_With Sakura…_

Sakura was sick of it. It was mortifying, really. How she always needed to be protected, how she was so weak. Sakura knew that she didn't do anything for herself and was always behind someone's back, being protected. She knew that, but every time that she told herself this, she was always too scared to move.

With determination, Sakura had attacked the three Sound-nins on her own after Lee had collapsed, cutting her hair that had been held by the enemy to get free. Sakura had tried her best to protect Sasuke, Naruto, and even Lee. But she was out of energy. Even Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, who had jumped in to save her after she was about to be attacked was running out. It was the end.

Neji and Tenten arrived, looking for Lee. But before they could intervene, Neji stated that there was no need. Sasuke woke up, dark tendrils of chakra clearly visible around him. Kagome arrived right after Sasuke broke both the arms of one of the Sound-nins. She still had on a barrier, but this one only blocked her scent and other people from feeling her chakra. She also supressed her aura.

Sakura's eyes were wide with horror and she ran for Sasuke, wrapping her arms around him. Kagome knew that this alone wouldn't stop him, so she disappeared from the tree branch she was standing on and reappeared in front of him, her hands glowing a soothing purple. Kagome placed her hands on either side of Sasuke's head and watched as the curse marks that covered his face, arms and legs retract back to the seal that Orochimaru (the creepy Grass-nin) had placed on him. The only Sound-nin that remained conscious and standing was the one with bandages. He took this chance to run, carrying both of his teammates.

When it was done, and all the curse marks disappeared Kagome watched as he slumped to the ground. Sakura looked up at Kagome, thanking her for saving Sasuke and all of them once again with her eyes. Had it not been for Kagome, Sasuke would have killed all the Sound-nins mercilessly.

Tenten jumped down and picked Lee up, while Neji approached Kagome, who was next to Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was called away by Ino to cut her hair a bit better. Neji once again tried to hand Kagome the Heaven scroll.

Kagome shook her head and pushed it back to Neji. Tenten and Sasuke watched this encounter with raised eyebrows. "It's yours." Kagome protested.

"But-" Neji started but was cut off by Kagome's shake of the head.

"I don't need it." she said simply. She reached into her holster and drew out the Heaven scroll they held. Neji looked at it and nodded, before jumping away with his team. _'Uchiha Sasuke. Higurashi Kagome. Two powerful rivals.'_

Back to Kagome, she was checking Sasuke for any injuries that he had sustained, occasionally healing the ones she found. Then she walked over to Sakura who was having a verbal fight with Ino. Kagome checked Sakura and Ino both for injuries. Healing them, she bowed to Ino, thanking her for helping Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto when she herself couldn't.

Kagome walked over to Shikamaru and Chouji, healing their injuries and bowing to them too. "Thank you for everything." Shikamaru and Chouji both blushed, looking embarrassed and rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly.

"No problem." Shikamaru said, giving her a small smile.

"It is actually a big problem. You and your team nearly lost your lives for my teammates, and for that, I am indebted to you three. My thanks does not even compare to what you have done. Since I was not there, I take full responsibility for your injuries." Kagome said, bowing again. "Once again, I thank you."

Kagome smiled at them. Chouji's and Shikamaru's eyes widened. They had never seen her smile before, and they most definitely wanted to see it again. It was so breathtaking. They found themselves smiling back out of reflex, and she stood up and approached Naruto, who Shikamaru and Chouji had been in the process of waking up (kicking him). Bending over him, she placed one hand on is forehead and sent a jolt of chakra through him, shocking him awake, but not enough to do damage.

"SAKURA-CHAN, WATCH OUT FOR THE SNAK-" Naruto's yelling abruptly stopped when Chouji whacked him over the head with a branch.

"Idiot." Shikamaru drawled. He looked over at Ino, who was arguing hotly with Sakura, once again. He sighed. Going over to pull Ino away from a glaring match, he stated that he had to leave along with his teammates for the scrolls, and then he and his team ran away. Silence in the clearing….until…

"Sakura-chan, what happened to your hair?!" Naruto asked stupidly. Sakura gave a weak smile.

"I like it better this way, it's not in my way." she said, touching it self-consciously. Kagome abruptly stood up and started to walk away slowly.

"Kagome?" Sakura called out tentatively. Kagome looked back over her shoulder and smiled the biggest smile they had ever seen her smile.

"Well, are you coming or not?" The all smiled back at her, (well for Sasuke it was more of a smirk) and followed her out, continuing on with their search for the scrolls.

_**Timeskip **_

(Team Seven got their scrolls and are now in that room where they open the stupid scrolls.)

"Naruto, Sakura, quick get rid of the scrolls!" Sasuke shouted when he realized it was a summoning jutsu. The scrolls started smoking and a loud _BANG_ alerted them to the fact that the was now a person in the chamber with them.

"Iruka-sensei." Kagome greeted the Chuunin.

"Hey! Congratulations on passing the second exam!" Iruka said cheerily. "I would buy you all ramen, but-" he was cut off when Naruto decided to give him a huge hug

"RAMENRAMENRAMENRAMENRAMENRAMENRAMENRAMEN!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto. Sit down and listen to what Iruka-sensei has to say." Iruka was beyond shocked when Naruto retreated and sat down with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Sorry about that, sensei." Naruto apologized.

"No, that's okay…" Iruka was stunned, but he got over it quickly. "The painting on the wall. I was sent here to tell you about the words. If your weakness lies in your intellect improve your intellect. If your weakness lies in body, improve your body. Combine these two, and even a difficult mission can become easy. A Chuunin is a guide. He must know the weaknesses and strengths of the ones under him, in order to complete the mission well. So I say, good job." Iruka finished, smiling at them.

_The Third Exam…_

Welcome, all who passed the second part of the Chuunin Exams." The Hokage said, smiling at the group of ninjas gathered in front of him.

As the Hokage continued on with his welcoming speech, Anko looked at the ones who had passed with slightly raised eyebrows. _'Wow. Out of seventy-three students, only twenty-two passed. Although, I must say that I was expecting the amount of people who passed o be in the single digits.' _she thought, smirking.

Kagome looked over at Sasuke. _'The curse mark…it's emitting so much negative energy I think I'm going to be sick.' _Kagome then felt something that made her entire being stiffen. It felt like Naraku, but at the same time, not like Naraku. Looking over at the source, she saw a Sound-nin on one of the balconies overlooking the floor of the huge cavern-like room. He had sickly pale skin, a creepy hunter smirk on his face and creepy snake-like eyes that had slits for pupils. _'He's staring at Sasuke…He's probably the one that gave Sasuke the mark in the first place…' _

Sasuke looked around at the people who had passed. _'That guy with the gourd, Gaara, and Neji passed. Good…'_ Sasuke smirked, thinking of how he would have the chance to fight them. Then his gaze landed on Kagome and his eyes narrowed. Her too. He could have the chance to fight her too.

Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, who was in front of him. _'I'm going to show everyone that I am strong, and I'm going to beat whoever's my opponent. Sasuke, that dude with the face paint and even those two guys that ignored me for Sasuke!'_

"…let's begin the third part of the Chuunin Exams." The Hokage finished. And Naruto, Sasuke and Kagome were brought out of their trances. They saw a sickly looking ninja standing next to the Hokage, coughing every two seconds. Kakashi was ignoring Gai, when Gai tried to boast. "But before it officially starts, I want you all to know the true purpose of this Exam. The 'reason', so to speak is the epitome of war between ninja nations." Everyone gasped inwardly when the Hokage said this.


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter Sixteen:_

_**Recap:**_

"…_let__'__s begin the third part of the Chuunin Exams.__"__ The Hokage finished. And Naruto, Sasuke and Kagome were brought out of their trances. They saw a sickly looking ninja standing next to the Hokage, coughing every two seconds. Kakashi was ignoring Gai, when Gai tried to boast. __"__But before it officially starts, I want you all to know the true purpose of this Exam. The __'__reason__'__, so to speak is the epitome of war between ninja nations.__"__ Everyone gasped inwardly when the Hokage said this. _

_**End Recap**_

The first match started between Uchiha Sasuke and Akadou Yoroi with Gekkou Hayate as the judge. Apparently, there were too many examinees left, so they had to have preliminary matches between the participants in order to cut down on the number a little. Kabuto quit, sending Naruto an apologetic look, but Kagome felt like something was off. Nerves and being scared had nothing to do with him quitting. Sakura had nearly volunteered to take Sasuke out of the Exam, but he grabbed her hand and forced it down.

Anko, had at the same time, been arguing with Kakashi on whether or not Sasuke should be allowed to participate in the Exams. Oblivious to Sakura and Sasuke's arguing, she pressed down on the fact that a normal person would be dead from that mark.

Back to the match, Sasuke had his chakra absorbed many, many times. As he was performing the movements that his Sharingan had copied from Lee before the first exam, the curse mark started to pulse, and marks started to spread from the curse mark to cover half his body. Sasuke remembered what Kakashi had said to him.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

'_If your Sharingan goes out of control, you may die. But before it does, this match will be cancelled, you will immediately be pulled from the Chuunin Exams and we will forcibly restrain you.' Kakashi said, walking away. Sasuke stared after him with wide eyes. _

'_Pulled from the Exams?!'_

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

Using only his will power, Sasuke pulled the marks back to the seal and used the Lion's Barrage combo to knock his opponent unconscious. Anko's eyes were as wide as they could go from seeing Sasuke stop the mark from taking over his body. Kakashi took Sasuke away so his curse mark could be sealed. Kagome heard Sasuke's anguished yells with her enhanced hearing even as the next match started.

"The next match is between Aburame Shino and Zaku." Hayate announced, coughing once again. Kagome gave an angry twitch.

'_That coughing noise is starting to seriously piss me off.' _Kagome thought, but she didn't let any of her anger show on the surface. Kagome carefully watched the Sound-nin that she had noticed earlier for having the feeling of Naraku. He had watched Sasuke's match with a delighted look on his face. He obviously did not feel Kagome, but she had her chakra, scent and aura suppressed, so it wasn't all that surprising.

Kagome was brought out of her musings when a hissing escaped the arms of Zaku. Shino watched as his arm's chakra points were suppressed by bugs crawling into the holes on his palms and as a result, his arms had blown from the pressure, making them useless.

The match between Kankurou and Misumi was quick, resulting in a broken neck on Misumi's part. Kankurou's puppet had done the honours of breaking his neck.

The next match announced was between Sakura and Ino. It was a match filled with…drama and in the end Sakura and Ino were both knocked out by each other's simultaneous punch to the face, after Ino's unsuccessful attempt to control Sakura's mind to get her to give up.

Next match, Temari of the Sand versus Tenten. Tenten immediately attacked her with many weapons, summoned from a scroll. Temari didn't get hit by one, and spread her fan so that one big purple dot showed.

"This is the first. There are two more. When you see all three, you're going to lose." Temari said, smirking. Kagome, from what she heard from Tenten's teammates, knew that Tenten did not miss easily, and that Temari was deflecting them. It was due to the slightly visible air disturbance that Kagome could feel a high pressure of air part the attacks so that Temari would not get hit. Tenten pulled out two scrolls.

Setting them on either side of her, she crouched and concentrated her chakra. "_**Soushouryu!**_" (Rising Twin Dragons). Tenten did a couple of hand signs and leapt into the air, the two scrolls circling and spiralling around her. It was hard to see, and only those with good eyesight could see the weapons that Tenten was summoning and throwing. Two circles. None of the weapons had hit Temari, she had swept them all away with a flick of her huge fan.

"Two."

"I'm not done yet!" Tenten leapt into the air once again. Tenten lifted all the weapons into the air, strings attached the weapons to her fingers. Temari once again used her fan to sweep away the weapons.

"Three." Temari disappeared and reappeared behind Tenten, riding her fan. "_**Ninpou Kamaitachi!**_" (Whirlwind attack) Temari trapped Tenten in a tornado laced with chakra. When it ended, Tenten fell to the earth, only to nearly break her back when Temari decided to catch her with the thin edge of her fan. Temari smirked and threw Tenten across the floor. Luckily, Lee caught her.

The next match was between Shikamaru and Kin. Using his intellect (his IQ is above 200), he knocked her out by using his Shadow Manipulation Technique to make her mimic his movements and make her slam her head on the wall. It knocked her unconscious.

Naruto and Kiba's match was next. Kiba had the upper hand first, but then Naruto caught Akamaru, surprising everyone.

'_He bit the guy on his own and then got mad. What an interesting guy…'_

'_Amazing!'_

'_Looks like he isn't the Naruto we used to know.'_

'_What did Kakashi do?'_

Kiba and Akamaru both swallowed pills and turned into copies of Kiba, only with sharper teeth and more animalistic instincts. The food pills were designed to let soldiers who eat them fight for three days and three nights straight. Kiba and Akamaru attacked Naruto ferociously, but in the end, Naruto kept remembering why he wanted to take the Chuunin Exams in the first place.

Everything was so that he could be recognized. So that he could be Hokage. Naruto could still remember the laughs that he had gotten when he told the class he was going to be Hokage. He was always alone, and everyday, he worked to improve his skills. But still, no one believed in him. The only person who saw this was Hinata. Naruto won in the end, using a Naruto version of the Lion's Barrage combo.

Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji. _'Oh…so they're cousins. No wonder their last names were the same.' _Kagome thought while watching their match.

Hinata had been warned by Kiba. If she got either Neji or Gaara, she had to immediately quit, or else she would get hurt. Badly. It was, in the beginning very biased on Neji's side. It seemed like he was going to win no matter what. But then, Hinata started to fight back after Naruto cheered for her. But even though Hinata put up a good fight, Neji still had been able to close all her chakra points.

Kiba had warned Hinata to give up for a reason. Hinata was from the Head family, and Neji was from the branch family. Neji's life was all about serving Hinata, and the Main family. Before Neji could close off the chakra to her heart, Kagome intervened, holding his palm an inch away from her. He had run for her, fully expecting to kill her after she just wouldn't stay down.

"She's done. Stop." Kagome said. Hinata collapsed, coughing up blood and Kagome caught her, handing her over to Kurenai and the medic-nins who quickly took her and placed her on a stretcher, running out of the room to the hospital. Hayate coughed.

"Please refrain from interfering in the matches." he said in another bout of coughing.

Kagome sent him a glare cold enough to freeze Hell over. Twice. "Hai." Neji retreated gracefully to his team's side looking at Kagome who was still on the floor. In a flash, Hayate cringed backwards after his throat was touched by a glowing purple finger.

"What did you do?!" he asked in horror, but then he touched his throat. He was no longer coughing.

"Your coughing pissed me off. If you had continued to cough, I probably would have removed your head from your shoulders, just so that I wouldn't have to listen to you coughing." Kagome said, her icy voice making everyone (including the Hokage) shiver.

Naruto kept looking at Hinata's blood on the floor. He jumped down, touching Hinata's blood, and swore vengeance for her, after a stinging remark about how worthless in battle she was on Neji's part. She had done her best and Neji had not acknowledged it at all. Naruto was forced back up by the now-not-coughing Hayate, and they continued onto the next match.

Gaara had appeared on the bottom floor almost immediately, and Lee jumped right over the balcony. Gaara's bloodlust had spiked during the matches, and it was so thick that the Sand-nins beside him moved away a bit. Kagome let down her barrier and flared her miko powers and aura, calming down the bloodlust that Gaara had. His eyes flickered to her for a second before training themselves on Lee. Lee attacked first, using kicks and punches. This was in vain, since Gaara's sand shield blocked everything. A wave of sand nearly engulfed Lee, had it not been for his quick feet. Everything he tried was blocked by Gaara's sand.

Lee landed on top a tall statues fingers. Suddenly Gai called out to him.

"Lee! Take them off!"

"But, Gai-sensei-" Lee said, surprised.

"It's okay! I give you permission." Lee crouched there, a smile slowly spreading on his face. He reached down to his shins and took off his leg warmers, revealing weights. He took them off and let them drop to the ground.

"Taking off a couple weights won't help you-" Temari was cut off when there was huge explosions when the weights hit the ground. Everyone's mouth dropped open. The look on Sakura's face was enough to make anyone laugh. Kakashi had one hand to his face, sweat dropping.

'_Isn't that a bit too much Gai?' _After Lee's taijutsu attacks went dramatically up in speed, he was able to land a kick on Gaara, but that didn't do any damage, since Gaara was wearing sand armour. Lee tried using Preliminary Lotus, but only was able to use it on a shell of sand. He even opened a few of the Eight Gates, but in the end, Lee lost, ending up with a severely injured arm and leg, compliments of Gaara's Sand Coffin.

Naruto had gone down again, checking on Lee. He had a horrified expression on his face when he heard the Lee would not be able to become a shin obi, because his body could not take it. Naruto yelled and wanted to rush after the healers until they told him otherwise, but Kakashi stopped him.

Dosu and Chouji were next. After being called a fatty, Chouji glared daggers at his opponent and used a 'Double Weight Technique'. It transformed him into what looked like a meatball, and he rolled toward his opponent, who dodged easily. Dosu only had to punch him and flick his instrument to knock Chouji unconscious. Apparently, water transmits sound, so that made Chouji a walking bomb.

Only Kagome was left. The Hokage looked at her, before holding out his arms in a gesture of silence. "There is an uneven amount of participants this year, so for the test concerning Higurashi Kagome, she will face off against anyone who would like to go against her. This includes any Jounin or Chuunin present." Eyes widened, jaws dropped and a collective 'WHATTTT?!' went around the room. If there was one thing the Hokage knew, it was that she had already surpassed many Jounin in skills, so he would test her right now.

Several hands were raised. This included Gai, Asuma, Temari, Kankurou, Neji and oddly enough…Kakashi.

"Kagome, would you like to choose?" the Hokage asked, smiling at her.

"No. It does not matter who I fight." Kagome replied smoothly, looking only at the Hokage.

"Okay then." the Hokage said. "All of you who raised your hands, get down here." Eyes widened once again, and everyone pretty much gaped like fish. Neji, Kankurou, Temari, Gai, Asuma and Kakashi filed down the balcony to the bottom floor and stood in a straight line a couple meters away from where Kagome was standing.

"Hokage-sama…do you intend to have me fight every one of these people?" Kagome asked, a smile in her voice.

"Not at all. We will simply have a draw as to who gets it. Step forward please, up to Anko." They all went over to Anko who was holding out a box filled with slips of paper. "Each of you pick one and the one who gets the lucky number 1 gets to go against Kagome."

They all picked a slip from the box.

"5." Kakashi.

"8." Gai.

"2." Neji.

"9." Asuma.

"6." Kankurou.

"1." Temari said, smirking. She stayed on the bottom floor while the rest of them filed back up to the balconies overlooking the arena.

"Temari of the Sand, no matter what the result, you will continue on to the main matches of the third exam. If Kagome succeeds in defeating you, she will also move on to the main matches." the Hokage said.

Hayate walked up to the two girls who were sizing each other up. "Begin."

Temari didn't move, fully intent on using the same technique she had used on Tenten. Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled out a kunai, flicking it towards Temari.

"That won't work on me-" Temari was cut off when the kunai sliced her shoulder. She looked at Kagome with wide eyes. "What? How could you…" she trailed off when Kagome raised her palm, a small ball of air spinning on it.

"I can manipulate air, just like you. You will not be able to just use high pressure air to deflect my weapons, or my attacks." Kagome stated, a smirk playing on her lips. Temari looked like she was freaking out.

"_**Ninpou Kamaitachi!**_" Temari shouted, swinging her fan so that a tornado was created. Kagome stepped into it willingly, smiling. Then she created a ball of air around her, slowly expanding it outwards. It expanded enough so that the tornado was broken and she let down the ball of air. Kagome did not look shaken in the least.

Kagome bit her thumb so that blood came out and did a couple of hand signs at high speed. "_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu.**_" A phoenix made completely of fire came out of the ground, soaring high so that everyone got an eyeful of the beautiful flaming bird. It soared towards Temari and whirled around her, creating a cyclone of fire that was inescapable. At least, not with wind techniques, that would probably make it worse.

You could see the faint outline of Temari as she struggled to get out, then as she collapsed, the air burned out. Kagome called her bird back to her and petted it, not fazed at all by the flames under her hand. The phoenix disappeared and Kagome looked expectantly at Hayate.

"Oh, winner is Higurashi Kagome. She will be proceeding to the main matches of the third exam." Hayate said, brought out of his trance. Everyone seemed to be a little hypnotized by the flames and the bird.

"Whoa! Kagome, that was awesome!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi looked shocked.

'_She defeated that Sand-nin in two moves, and it didn't even seem to be hard on her part.' _he thought.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen:

_**Recap:**_

"Oh, winner is Higurashi Kagome. She will be proceeding to the main matches of the third exam." Hayate said, brought out of his trance. Everyone seemed to be a little hypnotized by the flames and the bird.

"Whoa! Kagome, that was awesome!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi looked shocked.

'_She defeated that Sand-nin in two moves, and it didn__'__t even seem to be hard on her part.__'_he thought.

_**End Recap**_

Everyone was called down, and Temari was revived by Kankurou. "All those who has previously drawn a slip of paper, please return it to the box. We will be needing them." They put the slips back into the box, and all those who passed were instructed to take one slip. They read off the numbers.

"9." Dosu.

"1." Naruto.

"8." Temari.

"5." Kankurou.

"3." Gaara.

"7." Shikamaru.

"2." Neji.

"6." Shino.

"10." Kagome.

"And I guess the Uchiha is 4." Ibiki said.

They placed this onto the chart, and showed the results of the pairings. Naruto vs. Neji, Gaara vs. Sasuke, Kankurou vs. Shino, Temari vs. Shikamaru, Dosu vs. Kagome. (This is a bit different numbering than the anime, but I needed it to a bit different so everything would work out.)

"Wait, this is a tournament, so does that mean that only one person gets to be a Chuunin?" Shikamaru, the smart one, asked.

"No, the ones that pass will be passed judged on your matches due to your intellect and skills." the Hokage said.

_**Timeskip…**_

Kagome was meditating. There was no missions for the next month, so that they could train for the main matches of the third part of the Chuunin Exams. She had heard from Naruto that he was going to be trained by some 'closet pervert', but then he found someone else that he had dubbed the 'Frog Hermit Pervert'. Well it was either that or the "Perverted Hermit' (Ero-sennin). Sasuke was going to be trained by Kakashi. Naruto had probably thrown a fit when he learned this.

Now, if anyone had somehow gotten through her holy barrier made of her miko energy, and had somehow eluded her senses, they would have been thoroughly freaked if they saw Kagome. Why? Because Kagome was meditating around a meter off the ground, and she was glowing.

Right now, she was in the middle of a forest, in front of her house. Sure, the Hokage had given her an apartment, but she had refused and told them that she would build her own house in a secluded part of the forest. The Hokage had agreed under the circumstances that both he and Kakashi had to know the whereabouts of her house. Sure, they knew the whereabouts, but they wouldn't be able to get to her house anyway, because of the barrier. She had put it up so that no one but her and the ones she wanted to pass it would be able to pass it.

Suddenly she felt a familiar prickle that she had not felt in three years. Demons. Kagome ran towards the presence, taking out her chain and enlarging the bow and quiver of arrows. Nocking an arrow to her bow, she took aim at the five lizard demons and obliterated them with one arrow. The arrow returned to her hand and she put it back in her quiver.

"That was easy." she whispered, smiling. "I have to inform the Hokage." With that, she raced off towards the Tower, running out of the woods and back into the city. The guards didn't spare her a glance, she did this everyday.

Arriving at the Tower, she practically flew up the steps to the door of the Hokage's office. She knocked and waited for a minute before she heard the Hokage's voice telling her to come in. When Kagome came into the office, she noticed several ANBU there, looking at her. Apparently they had been in the middle of a discussion.

"Hokage-sama, I have to talk to you about something important." Kagome said, her face blank.

"We are in the middle of something-" One of the ANBU started, but he was cut off by the Hokage himself.

"I will talk to you later Sakane, Uruten, Ruruken." he said, waving his hand in dismissal. Once they were gone, the Hokage turned to Kagome who had a serious expression on her face.

"What is it?"

"Demons. I found a couple near my house. I think that they are Naraku's castoffs." Kagome said quietly.

"Castoffs? What do you mean?"

"Naraku is made up of many many demons. Usually when he absorbs a powerful one, he gets rid of useless ones in his body." she explained. "That is definitely not good. It means that there are demons in this world that he is absorbing. And since they are exceedingly rare in this world, it means that they are powerful enough to keep surviving."

The Hokage pondered this. "So, he managed to absorb a powerful demon and then he castoff some weak ones. Does that mean that the demon population will go up?"

"Yes. In fact, he absorbed more than a million demons and if he sets them loose and they breed, you may have a worldwide disaster. Demons might take over and kill off the humans. This is a very high possibility seeing as the lizard demons I found were probably breeding right then and there. It was lucky that I found them and killed them before they could lay eggs."

"Do you recommend any action?" Hokage asked.

"I request permission to go and kill them whenever I feel any. I also request that you not let anyone know that I am killing them. They will probably target me, seeing as I still have the jewel." she said, keeping her head high.

"Permission granted. Do you require any materials of any kind?"

"Yes. I need an ANBU mask in order to hide my identity. That is all I require." The Hokage pulled an ANBU mask from his desk drawer and handed it to her. It was completely blank except for the blue and green line that ran from each side of the mask and twisted around each other forming curved points that branched out from the main blue and green. There was one very thin line of purple that ran from under each eye hole to the bottom of the mask.

Bowing her thanks, she promptly left, leaving the Hokage to his thoughts. Kagome ran back to her house and braided her hair. Placing the ANBU mask onto her face, she strapped the two katanas that were normally at her thighs to her forearms. She wore a black coat that went down to her knees and covered her katanas with the sleeves and then looked in the mirror. Something was missing…Then she took out the chain holding the miniature Hiraikotsu, bow and arrows and slipped it onto her neck. There were two extra clasps on the chain that was meant for her two katanas, so she could shrink them or just carry them.

Nodding at herself in the mirror, she jumped out the window, landing lightly on her feet towards the deeper part of the forest, where she could detect a faint, almost untraceable sliver of demonic energy. When she reached the part of the forest where she felt the demonic energy, she cursed for not having felt the aura of a human battling it. Finally, when the demon and the human were in viewing range, Kagome cursed once again. Of all the people that had to find the demon, it had to be Kiba. Damn his nose, he must have smelled that something was off and ran towards it. Shouldn't he be in the hospital?

**Kiba POV **

Here I was, fighting against this thing, just because I was too damn curious for my own good. Jumping out and escaping from the hospital had NOT been a good idea, but what choice did I have? The hospital smell nearly killed me, and worse of all, I forgot to rescue Akamaru when the medics had decided to run after me. Then I smelled a heavenly scent that led me here to this goddamn forest and then outta nowhere this thing attacks me! It was disgusting looking, with multiple eyes, green bulbous skin, claws on its feet and hands, a third eye, and two scraggly looking wings on its back.

I blocked another attack from its claws before dodged it's sharp teeth. Out of my haste, I tripped backwards, and the demon was dived right for me, its mouth open wide ready to devour me. I watched as it got closer and closer, until something pierced its back and it turned into ash. An arrow struck the ground beside me and I swear I saw something glowing and purple on it, but when I blinked there was nothing on the arrow.

I looked at my rescuer, ready to thank him or her, and stopped when I saw the ANBU mask. There was definitely no ANBU that had that mask. At least, I had never seen any of the villages ANBU with that mask. It was scratch and blemish free, indicating that it was new, which meant that either this woman standing in front of me was a new ANBU or she was pretending to be an ANBU. Speaking of this girl, she had a heavenly scent, like the one I had smelled earlier. It smelled of rain and citrus fruits. There was also something else that I couldn't identify, but altogether, it created an unforgettable scent. And it was coming straight from her.

"Thanks." I breathed, hung up on the addicting smell. When she nodded and leapt away, I felt a flash of recognition go through me. Who else did that? I remember someone did…

**End Kiba POV**

'_That demon wasn't even good practice…'_ Kagome thought, disappointed. There was no one she could test her skills against, because there was a chance they might recognize her and then she would definitely be screwed. When Kagome reached the front of her house, she sighed and expanded the barrier, whipping out her katanas from her sleeves.

She jumped into the air and let herself fall headfirst, the swords out in front of her as she headed for the ground. They were crossed in an "x" and she slashed diagonally with each at the ground, before flipping and landing lightly on her feet striking out with one of ther katanas and using the other to defend from an imaginary attack. She leapt forward, and began twirling and striking at the same time and then slashed, spun struck, twirled and jumped with a deadly grace, giving the impression that it was a dance.

Kagome took off her ANBU mask, and let her hair fall out of its braid, creating a cascading waterfall of ebony hair behind her. She restrapped her swords to her thighs and took off the coat, looking like her regular self. She sighed. Better go check on Naruto or someone. It was too boring just training by herself.

Kagome took two steps and realized that she forgot to put up her normal barrier. It felt so natural that when she had taken it down during the Chuunin Exams, Kagome had forgotten to put it back up. What a smart thing to do when she had just helped the one person who had the best sense of smell. Good going, Kagome. Quickly, Kagome put the barrier back up around herself, hiding her scent and suppressing her aura.

As soon as she got fifty meters away from her house and left the barrier, she was assaulted with Kiba's nose. "The scent stops right here…" he muttered to himself while staring at Kagome. "Why don't you have a scent?" Kagome looked at him with a fake look of confusion before continuing on to Konoha.

_In Konoha…_

Sakura was walking along the streets, just meandering along when she spotted Kagome. She stopped for a second before making up her mind and running after the black-haired kunoichi and calling out her name.

"Kagome! Wait up!" Sakura skidded to a stop in front of the smaller girl, panting from her short run. "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure…" Kagome said, taken aback.

_In Training Grounds 9…_

"Kagome…" Sakura started, looking uneasy. "Will you…train me?" Of all the things Sakura would have called her here for, Kagome did not expect _**that**_.

"Reasons?" Kagome asked.

"I…have noticed that I'm constantly behind the group. I always need to be protected and I don't do anything on our missions that actually help someone. On our last mission to the Country of the Waves, I didn't do anything but guard Tazuna, and that was because I was too weak to help fight. I want to…be able to help the team. Not hold them back. I'm not so sure I can take the Chuunin Exams the way I am now." Kagome considered this for a minute.

"I will train you, but you must never question why I ask you to do the things I ask you to do." Sakura agreed and Kagome asked her to sit down and stretch out her legs. Kagome knelt down and touched Sakura's ankle, infusing some chakra there and muttering something under her breath while doing hand seals. Satisfied by her work, Kagome moved onto the other ankle, doing the same thing.

"What did you do?" she asked, curious. Kagome sighed. What had she just asked for Sakura NOT to do?

"I put a weight seal on your ankles, so you know have an extra fifty pounds on each leg." Sakura tried to get up, but failed. "I want you to move around with those weights until you can carry them better than when you had no weights. I want you to be faster than you were before."

"What about the arms? Won't I still be weak on the arms if you don't place a weight seal there too?" Kagome gave a sadistic smile that made Sakura shiver. Taking a scroll out of a pocket, she opened it, bit her thumb and did the summoning jutsu. There was a huge poof and standing there was a smaller version of Hiraikotsu. It only weighed around one quarter of Kagome's Hiraikotsu's weight.

"This is an altered replica of my own Hiraikotsu. You can call it whatever you want." Setting it down in front of Sakura, she watched as the girl tried to get up a few times and failed. "It will be a while before you can get up. When you can, consider your training for the day over." With that, she left the protesting girl in the training ground, passing by Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Asuma.

She smirked when she heard their yelps of surprise. Oh, yes. Today might turn out to be a good day after all.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen:

_**Recap:**_

"_This is an altered replica of my own Hiraikotsu. You can call it whatever you want.__"__ Setting it down in front of Sakura, she watched as the girl tried to get up a few times and failed. __"__It will be a while before you can get up. When you can, consider your training for the day over.__"__ With that, she left the protesting girl in the training ground, passing by Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Asuma._

_She smirked when she heard their yelps of surprise. Oh, yes. Today might turn out to be a good day after all._

_**End Recap**_

Over the next few weeks, Sakura was trained hard by Kagome. On the first day, it was 100 sit-ups, and then 100 push-ups. Then she was to practice dodging Kagome's blows (which were slow compared to her normal ones) with the extra hundred pounds added. Then she had to carry around Mini Kotsu (the Hiraikotsu that Kagome gave her) strapped to her back wherever she went until the weight was relatively easy to carry. Then Sakura was forced to throw it.

It was safe to say that Kagome had a few close calls with keeping her snickers and laughter in check that day. Sakura had practically been glowing with embarrassment. But each day that Sakura had trained with Kagome, another fifty was added to her sit-ups, her push-ups and she had to start running with the extra weight and the Mini Kotsu.

_**Timeskip…**_(The day of the Chuunin Exam matches)

Winners:

Naruto vs. Neji…Naruto (Kagome had been kinda pissed off at the way Neji had kept talking about how fate always had something planned for everyone and because of it he had suffered, but he didn't do anything to try and oppose it.)

Gaara vs. Sasuke…postponed until after the last match.

Kankurou vs. Shino…Kankurou forfeits, Shino automatic win

Temari vs. Shikamaru…Temari

"Now, beginning the final match between Dosu and Higurashi Kagome. Ready….begin!" Now, if you were part of the crowd and was hoping for a long awesome match, you would have been disappointed at how quickly the match had ended, but would have been amazed at the jutsu that Kagome had used.

First, Kagome had pulled out her katanas, and spread a thick layer of ice over it using water and wind. Then she smirked and disappeared, reappearing behind Dosu. He had a light cut on each of his limbs and on his stomach. They were quickly icing over and they made Dosu immobile. She turned back towards him and jumped so that she was in front of him, her palm facing the sky and her eyes closed. She was like that for a couple seconds before her eyes snapped open and she did a very fast, very complex string of hand signs.

When she finished, she put her hands in a prayer like position with about two inches of space between her parallel hands. Between her hands, there was six, very small balls made of fire, water, earth, lightning, air, and one made out of pure white chakra. As the space in between her hands got bigger as she separated them, the balls also got bigger, until each one of the was around the size of her head.

"**Elemental Attack: **_**Death by the Elements!**_" Dosu was burned by the ball of fire so horribly that he wished he was dead. He was hit with water that had so much force that he thought his skin was peeling off. Dosu was electrocuted with lightning that had enough power to give him an instant heart attack and kill him. A huge ball of dirt and earth crushed him before disappearing. A ball of air whipped him around while his feet were still anchored to the ground be her ice with the force of a cyclone. Lastly, he was engulfed by her pure white chakra, and the entire stadium lighted up and blinded the spectators momentarily.

When it got dim enough for them to finally see again, they only saw Kagome and what looked to be a charred and twisted piece of metal that had been on Dosu's arm, mutilated beyond repair. The audience was literally speechless.

"Now you can't kill anyone anymore." Kagome said, the wind picking up her words and blowing them to everyone in the stadium benches so that they could hear her. The examiner declared her the winner and she slowly walked out of the stage area and jumped to the place where all the Chuunins had waited for their battles. Hers was the last one before Sasuke's and everyone eagerly awaited his arrival. It got to the time where if he didn't show up in a couple of seconds, he would be declared the loser and the win would go to Gaara.

Meanwhile, Kagome went up to the Hokage and, putting up a barrier so the Kazekage couldn't hear her, she told him that she had found the real Kazekage in a ditch with bugs crawling all over him. He was dead. Kagome went into the building and, when no one was looking, she pulled out her mask (remember, she's not ACTUALLY ANBU, she's just using one of their masks) and placed it over her face. Then she braided her hair and pulled on her black coat. Standing quietly in the shadows for the battle to commence, she waited for the inevitable to happen. The battle was about to happen.

Sasuke showed up with Kakashi, who was always late and started to fight Gaara. Gaara was encased in a ball of sand, and Sasuke was going to use Chidori on it. In the middle of the match, there was an explosion on the building where the Hokage and the Kazekage were. The Kazekage turned out to be Orochimaru and Sand-nins started to attack the many ANBU and ninja that ran to protect the Hokage. 4 ninjas tore off their clocks to reveal four sound-nins that created a barrier around the Hokage and Orochimaru. Most of the ninjas and practically all of the civilians fell asleep in the stand, all under a genjutsu.

Kakashi, Gai and Kagome (they didn't know she was Kagome, they only thought she was ANBU) were already up and attacking Kabuto and other enemy-ninjas. Kagome summoned Hiraikotsu and swung it, effectively knocking out around half of the ninjas.

She smirked as they tried to dodge the huge weapon swung their way. _'These people learn fast, but not fast enough…'_ Kagome thought, as more and more people fell victim to her very heavy and hard Hiraikotsu.

Sasuke had already started pursuing Gaara, and Kakashi told Naruto, Sakura and Pakkun (his summoned nin-dog) to go with him. Kagome quickly went up to where the Hokage was slammed her hands against the barrier, pouring her holy energy into it. Little by little, the barrier began to fall, and Kagome motioned for some ANBU ninjas to go in through the ever-enlarging hole in the barrier. The ran forward to assist the Hokage who, by now was already using the jutsu that would end Orochimaru's life and his. But he did not have enough chakra. Before he made the deal with the Death God, Kagome jumped forward and stopped him.

"Don't. I will handle Orochimaru." she told him, and he collapsed onto the roof tiles. Kagome whipped out her chain and unclasped her bow and arrows, enlarging them. Kagome nocked an arrow and released it fluidly, aiming straight for Orochimaru's heart. He dodged, but the purple flames that had surrounded the arrow burned a part of his arm, purifying a bit. He cursed, because now he couldn't use his right arm. Kagome once again drew back her bowstring with an arrow nocked into it and released the arrow, purple flames surrounding it.

Orochimaru cursed and jumped out of the way. He looked at her with venom in his gaze, because at the last second, Kagome had manipulated the wind so that it stuck into Orochimaru's arm, purifying it completely. It started to turn to ash but Orochimaru quickly, with some help from a random Sand-nin, managed to wrench it out. He smirked at her and started to sink into the ground.

"Until next time, little miko." he hissed at her, before completely disappearing.

"Naraku…" Kagome turned back to the Hokage and lifted his arm onto her shoulder, hoisting him up. She closed her eyes and let her miko powers drift to him and assess the damage. Nothing too serious, just a few cuts and bruises and some broken ribs.

Jumping down from the building, she let some Konoha ANBU take him and turned back to the four enemy-nins that had been holding up the barrier. They all came to attack her, but quickly retreated when she swung her huge Hiraikotsu at them. Kagome quickly jumped out of the stadium and into the forest, towards Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. She also sensed Shikamaru, and a….dog?

Kagome veered sharply to the left, to where Shikamaru was because of the enemy-nins auras she sensed. When she arrived, she saw Asuma and Shikamaru holding off the enemy-nins. Before one could deal a killing blow to Shikamaru, Kagome quickly killed him with one swipe of her katana and nodded to the bewildered Asuma, who finished off the rest.

Kagome jumped back into the trees and started to make her way to Naruto, who uses his chakra to summon Gamabunta (the Frog Boss), effectively destroying, like, half of the already trampled forest which had been trampled by Gaara, who had let Shukaku (the racoon demon) take over. Naruto managed to stop Gaara by head butting him and then fighting him until both of them couldn't move from chakra loss.

Gaara noticed that Naruto was like him, except Gaara had been alone all his life. But that could change, especially since Temari and Kankurou could help him. Kagome arrived and first went over to Gaara, kneeling beside him.

"You've been tricked. Your Kazekage was found dead, and Orochimaru was disguised as him." Her voice came out a bit differently than normal so that no one could recognize her due to the mask mufflnig her voice. Temari and Kankurou made a move to stop her when she placed a hand on Gaara's forehead, but she didn't move from him, and they both relaxed when they realized that she meant no harm.

Sending her chakra and miko energy into Gaara, Kagome healed all of his wound, and calmed down his blood thirst quite a bit. He looked at her, surprised, and let his siblings take him and jump away with him in tow.

Kagome looked at them, satisfied before turning to Naruto and healing him too. Sakura did not have any external wounds, and was overall fine, so Kagome sent enough energy into her to wake her and then turned to Sasuke. He looked at Kagome and then back to Naruto, before losing consciousness from exhaustion. Kagome sighed and healed his wounds too, leaving all the cuts and wounds scar-free.

_The next day…_

"I am stepping down from my position as Hokage." Sarutobi announced to the citizens. Everyone was in an uproar about this new piece of information.

"Why?!" one of them yelled.

"My time as Hokage passed long ago, it is time to pass it to one of my students."

"Who?" another called.

"Tsunade, she is one of the three legendary Sannin. A couple ninja are going after her as we speak." Sarutobi announced.

"You mean the Legendary Sucker?" a ninja asked. Tsunade was known for never winning a bet, so everyone who bet against her made some money. She also owed a lot of people money, so she was always on the run.

_With Naruto and Jiraiya…_

Naruto was, right now, staring at a Sasuke look-alike. In fact, he could have been Sasuke had it not been for the long hair, and the height. Sasuke came running down the hall at the look-alike with the Chidori, and Naruto watched, amazed and a little horrified when his wrist was snapped and the Chidori fizzed out. Sasuke attempted to beat Itachi, his brother in a taijutsu match, but the end result was Itachi hissing into Sasuke's ear that he was still weak and he didn't have enough hate.

Jiraiya intervened and trapped them in a frog's stomach, but they escaped. Gai then came jumping in and kicked Jiraiya straight in the face.

"Akatsuki…" Jiraiya muttered.

"What?" Naruto asked, oblivious and dense.

"Nothing, now let's continue the search for Tsunade while Gai takes Sasuke back to Konoha." he said, and with that, he and Naruto both walked out.

_Back in Konoha…_

"Kagome, I need you to go on a rescue mission." the ex-Third Hokage said, folding his hands under his chin.

"What is it?"

"Ino has been captured by enemy-nins while she was on a mission with Shikamaru and Chouji." Kagome felt her blood run cold at the mention of Ino being captured.

"Why was Asuma not with them?" Kagome asked, struggling to keep her voice at a monotone.

"He is needed to help rebuild the village. Besides, I promoted Shikamaru to Chuunin, so he should have been enough to handle this mission." Sarutobi said, sighing. "I promote you to Chuunin also, and I wish for you to go to them and help Shikamaru and Chouji rescue Ino."

"Understood." Kagome said. "But I wish to go disguised."

"Why?" Sarutobi asked, puzzled.

"If no one knows my identity, there is no need for me to hold back in order to avoid suspicion." Sarutobi considered this for a moment before nodding.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen:

_**Recap:**_

"_I promote you to Chuunin also, and I wish for you to go to them and help Shikamaru and Chouji rescue Ino.__"_

"_Understood.__"__ Kagome said. __"__But I wish to go disguised.__"_

"_Why?__"__ Sarutobi asked, puzzled. _

"_If no one knows my identity, there is no need for me to hold back in order to avoid suspicion.__"__ Sarutobi considered this for a moment before nodding._

_**End Recap**_

"You will also go with Team Gai, but replacing Gai as their leader. Understood?" Kagome nodded and quickly put on her mask. She braided her hair, and summoned her black coat from a scroll (I don't know where she got the scroll from, so don't ask me.). Lastly, she placed the chain holding her Hiraikotsu and her bow and arrows around her neck.

After she was done disguising herself, Sarutobi called Neji and Tenten inside. Lee just stood outside the door with crutches supporting him. Kagome went over to him and knelt down in front of his injured leg. She used her miko energy to envelop his leg and started to heal him. She did the same to his arm.

"Now try and move using the leg." she instructed, and to Lee's amazement, he was fully healed. He tried using his arm too, and found that it was as good as new.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" Lee said, bowing multiple times. Kagome motioned for him to stand up.

"No need for thanks." Sarutobi briefed them on where Ino was being held and where to meet Shikamaru and Chouji. They were to head to a hotel in the Country of Lightning.

Turns out some rogue ninjas from the Hidden Village of Cloud had captured Ino some distance from their village, and were holding her for ransom. They had turned into missing-nins.

Kagome set out immediately along with Neji, Tenten and Lee. They kept running and only stopped when they needed to eat or rest. Kagome was restless, so she couldn't sleep. She spent the time that the others spent sleeping, training.

On the third day that they were traveling, Neji woke up in the dead of night to hear a whistling and crunching noise. Curious, he crept to the sound and watched as Kagome (they called her Team Leader because they didn't know her name) hefted a giant boomerang and swung it at a couple trees, cutting them cleanly so that they fell.

The whistling noise was from the boomerang cutting through the air, and the crunching noise was from when the boomerang would hit and cut a tree. He watched as she swung it a few more times before she caught it and put it on her back, her arms trembling.

'_It must weigh a lot…' _he thought, as he saw her shaking arms. All of a sudden, she stiffened and looked at the tree he was hiding behind.

"Come out." she said. Neji walked out from behind it slowly and watched as she slowly relaxed when she saw him. "What do you need?"

"Fight me." he said.

"What?" she asked, her tone surprised.

"I said, fight me." Neji repeated, getting into a fighting stance. He almost fell over from shock when she said her answer.

"No."

"Why?!" he asked, outraged.

"If you have the energy to fight me, I would rather you spend that energy on going after Ino. We are on a rescue mission. Every moment we waste may mean that she is being tortured…or worse." Kagome said, before heading back to their camp. She turned back to him. "But, I'll gladly fight you after this mission." she said, amused.

They continued on, running until they met Shikamaru and Chouji in the hotel. From there on, they headed out to the base where Ino was being held. When they got there, they saw that the enemy had already assembled in the field and were waiting for them.

"Hey there, it took you long enough." one of the Cloud-nins said, getting up. He motioned for his followers to stand. "Did you bring the money?"

Kagome shook her head. "Then she'll die." the Cloud-nin said, putting a kunai to Ino's throat. So fast that no one caught it, Kagome was in front of the Cloud-nin, holding his wrist in a steel-like grip so that the kunai was an inch away from Ino's neck. The Cloud-nins quickly grabbed Ino and jumped away with her, while Kagome started to battle the many Cloud-nins that had just jumped out from the trees. There was a really large group, maybe around a hundred (why were there so many?!), and they all pretty much went for Kagome. Some went for the stunned Konoha group.

Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji and Lee did just fine, but every time Tenten tried to summon a weapon, some random idiot would jump in and attack her, so she had no time to summon. One of the ninjas got behind her, and dealt her a blow to the neck that made her unconscious. Then he retreated with her. The others quickly tried to do as much damage as they could before retreating, causing many cuts and bruises. Kagome quickly knelt in front of them and healed all of their cuts.

"Let's rest a bit." Shikamaru said, plopping down. The others followed his example, but Kagome stood up and started to run.

"Where are you going?" Lee called after her.

"I'm going after them." she called back, stopping.

"What?! You can't! We're all tired, and you need rest too. You must have wasted over half of your chakra just healing us!" Chouji shouted.

"Yeah, but the more time we waste, the more time they rest, and the more they get even stronger. I intend to get them back, so just rest a bit." Kagome said, and jumped through the trees. The guys sat in silence for a while before,

"We should probably go after her." Neji said, and they all got up and jumped after her. The sight they were met with was Kagome, standing in the middle of yet another field while the Cloud-nins bodies were scattered around her. She was just cutting free Tenten and Ino.

"Ino!"

"Tenten!"

Kagome watched as the two girls were accosted by the guys. _'They care a lot for each other.'_, Kagome thought as she saw their happy faces. Was it worth it to go past her limit to save the two girls? Totally.

'_Damn, I'm about to…'_ Kagome couldn't stay conscious anymore and she fell backwards, blacking out.

Neji and Shikamaru quickly caught her, and set her down while checking for any wounds. There were none, but she had used waaaayy too much chakra.

'_Why doesn't she have ANY wounds? She fought more than a hundred ninjas!' _Neji thought, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

_A couple days later…_

Kagome and her group arrived back at Konoha and went straight to the Hokage's office. In it, there was a woman with…um…well endowed assets (cough) and blond hair sitting in the Hokage's chair.

"Ah, you guys must be the group that took the rescue mission in the Hidden Village of the Cloud. Status?"

"We successfully rescued Ino and received minimal wounds and damage." Kagome said behind her ANBU mask.

"What wounds?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Our wounds have already healed due to the YOUTHFUL POWER that our team leader used to heal us! Her YOUTH is EXPLOSIVE!" Lee shouted with fire in his eyes. Neji and Tenten just sighed.

"Are you a medic-nin?" the lady asked.

"Not to be rude….but, who are you?" Shikamaru drawled, bored.

"I am Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage." Tsunade said. "Now getting back to my question, are you a medic-nin?"

"No, I'm-" Before Kagome could get any further, Naruto barged into the office with Sakura trying to stop him and Sasuke just standing there. Kagome noticed that his aura only had feelings of anger and frustration in it.

"TSUNADE-OBAACHAN! WE'RE BACK!" Naruto shouted with a huge grin. Next thing he knew, a book was flying through the air and hit his face.

"Naruto! Get out of my office!" Naruto pouted, but complied. Not without a few more shouts of course.

"No, I am not a medic-nin, but-" Kagome tried to say again, but she was cut off by Lee this time. (Wow. She was cut off by Shikamaru, then Naruto, then Lee!)

"She healed my leg and arm, when the other medic-nins said that I couldn't be a shinobi anymore! She truly is the EPITOME OF YOUTH!!" Everyone was silent after his outburst.

"Is what he said true?" Tsunade asked her. Kagome nodded. "Care to tell me where you learned to heal?" she asked Kagome, raising an eyebrow.

"I-"

"That is classified information." Sarutobi said, coming into the office. "Meant for Hokage's ears only."

Tsunade stared at Sarutobi before nodding. "Alright, you know what he just said, all of you are dismissed. Except for the Team Leader." Once they were all gone, Kagome took off her mask, her coat and let her hair fall free from its braid. She put her chain back into its holster.

"So…why is her information, classified information?" Tsunade asked, folding her hands under her chin and staring levelly at Kagome. Kagome proceeded to tell her all about her past and about the demons that she had found in the forest.

"And what is wrong with a bit more demons?" Tsunade asked, puzzled by the fact that weak demons could be a problem.

"Many and all of the demons that Naraku separate from his body still contain his deadly miasma. If you get hit by it, you will definitely die unless you are a miko or a priest that can purify it. And if these demons reproduce, that means that there may be huge hoards of demons coming after you, all with miasma. Also include the fact that they have claws and poison." Kagome explained.

Tsunade looked the girl in front of her up and down. It didn't seem like this small of a girl could destroy deadly demons, but then again, she was supposed to be years older than she was now.

_A few days later…_

Sasuke had just rendered Sakura unconscious and put her on a bench. He saw the four shinobi that had invited him to get power from Orochimaru standing just beyond the gate. The guards on duty were in a forced sleep.

Just as he was about to step out of Konoha's gates, Sasuke was stopped by a glowing purple barrier. He whipped around until he saw Kagome. She shot four arrows straight at the four shinobi who were unable to dodge in time and were purified from inside out, turning into ash.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kagome hissed, her voice icy and laced with venom.

"I'm gaining power. In whatever way I can." he shot back.

"If you gain power from Orochimaru, it won't be YOUR power, it'll be power that is borrowed from him." she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"It can't be helped." Sasuke said quietly.

"It can!" Kagome shouted.

"NO IT CAN'T!" Sasuke snapped. "This is the only way I'm ever going to surpass Itachi!"

"No it isn't." Kagome said, surprising Sasuke. "You may get power from Orochimaru, but at what prince? Your body and soul."

"Then what do you suggest I do?!" Sasuke asked angrily. "Even if I get taken over by Orochimaru, at least I'll have enough power to finally avenge my family and clan!"

"You're giving up your soul just for that?! You family is dead right now. Even by killing your older brother, you won't be able to bring them back. What will you do after you have finally killed Itachi?! You'll only feel empty. If your sole purpose in life is revenge, you will destroy your life, and lose the people you care about." Kagome said. Sasuke was silent for a while as if considering her words. Suddenly he turned to her with a smirk.

"I will stay in Konoha…if you train me." Sasuke said, smirking even wider.

Kagome's eyebrows rose. "Train…you."

"Yes."

Kagome considered this for a moment before nodding. "Fine."

_The next day, at the training grounds with Sakura and Sasuke…_

Sakura and Sasuke both arrived at the same time at the spot where Kagome was to meet them.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, surprised. She had woken up on a bench and had immediately gone to the Hokage about Sasuke leaving the village, but when she got there, she saw that Sasuke and Kagome were both in the office.

"Hn." he grunted. Sakura shrugged and pulled out a scroll, summoning her Mini Kotsu. Sakura strapped it onto her back and started to do sit-ups. Sasuke watched with fascination at the kunoichi who used to be so obsessed with her looks. Now, she was completely focused on training.

Kagome arrived in a puff of smoke, with a katana-like sword. It had a black, shiny sheath with a red piece of cloth crisscrossing on it. Kagome handed it to Sasuke who took it with a puzzled look on his face. Kagome then motioned for him to sit. She placed a weight seal on him for 50 pounds on each leg.

"There. We will be training in swords and physical agility and abilities. Right now you have the same amount of weight as Sakura does." Sasuke glanced sharply at Sakura who had moved onto push-ups. "You will have the same training menu as Sakura. Right now it is 600 push-ups, 600 sit-ups, and then you have sparring and how to strike with a sword. For Sakura, it is training in taijutsu and then in how to control her Hiraikotsu. Start."

Sasuke was forced to do the sit-ups and push-ups and then he was taught how to hold a sword and the basics of striking with it. He promptly collapsed after the first hour of sparring. Sakura managed to hold up much longer, already sort of used to the weights.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty:

Week after week, Sasuke and Sakura were forced through hell by Kagome's Spartan training. She, when sparring, held back a lot, but still hit them hard and fast. Kagome also added more weight to their seals until they were at one hundred and fifty. They had gotten good enough that they managed to block most of her attacks with the 150-pounds on each leg. Unfortunately, Kagome was still holding back, and to her, her steps were in slow-motion.

"Kagome, what is Sasuke going to do to train his arms? I'm using the Hiraikotsu, but he isn't using anything." Sakura told Kagome tentatively. Kagome gave a small evil smirk that made Sakura shiver.

Motioning Sasuke over, Kagome told him to pull out his katana-like sword. "Now put some of your chakra into it." When he did, the sword glowed and turned into a long, fang. It wasn't big like the Tetsusaiga, but that didn't mean that it wasn't as heavy. His arms went down with the weight of it.

"What the hell is this sword made of?!" he asked, struggling to hold it up.

"Demon fangs." Kagome replied, shrugging. He looked at her incredulously.

"DEMON fangs? Where did you get them from?" Sasuke asked, his eyes wide.

"Around." she said vaguely. He raised an eyebrow in skeptism. "Anyway, you should get enough training for your arms with that sword."

"If my arms don't get ripped off first." Sasuke muttered under his breath. He looked to his side and was forced to bring the heavy sword up to block an attack made by Kagome with her own katanas.

She spun around and slashed diagonally with her sword at his torso. Sasuke barely managed to block her quick blades with his own. His movements were sluggish and erratic, but he always managed to block the cuts that could have ended his life.

"Are you out for blood, or do you just want to kill me?!" Sasuke hissed at her while blocking a swipe that would have taken his head off. She merely smirked in return and quickened her pace, making it harder and harder for him to dodge and parry. He had no chance whatsoever to actually attack her as she pressed him.

_With Sakura…_

Before Kagome had started to spar with Sasuke, she had created a clone of herself to spar with Sakura. Sakura dodged a kick that would have sent her into the trees, but fell right into Kagome's punch. She doubled over, but was forced to jump away as Kagome relentlessly attacked. Drop kicks, sweeping kicks, punches, swipes, etc. Sakura's vision started to go fuzzy with concentration. It wasn't long before Sakura was wheezing and panting while Kagome's clone just stood there, unruffled.

"Come on Sakura. You want to get stronger, right? Then come at me with everything you've got." Sakura growled and lunged forward at Kagome with a flurry of punches. Kagome blocked all of these calmly. _'Sakura's punches are getting stronger…'_ Kagome thought, inwardly smiling at her friend's determination.

Sakura's kick missed, and she dropped to the ground to try and sweep Kagome's feet from under her. Using Sakura's back as a support, Kagome flipped over her, kicking her so that she fell face forward in the process. Sakura teetered dangerously, but she stuck her hand out and flipped over too, so that she was in a standing position.

She quickly spun around with her leg straight to kick Kagome, but Kagome jumped over Sakura and landed behind her. Sakura swung her arm, and Kagome caught it, twisting it so that she was in an arm lock. Sakura used her other arm to try and elbow Kagome in the face. Kagome jumped back, but loosened her grip on Sakura's arm in the process and Sakura managed to wrench it free.

"Not bad…" Kagome whispered, smirking. Sakura smirked back and lunged forwards once again.

_Later…_

"Hey, Kagome! Come with us for ramen!" Sakura shouted happily, standing next to Sasuke and Naruto. Kagome hesitated visibly.

"Come on Kagome!" Naruto shouted, using the puppy-dog look. Full quivering lips, huge saucer-eyes filled with tears and everything. Kagome hesitated again, but nodded her head slowly. Naruto bounded over to her, yes BOUNDED, and grabbed her hand, dragging her behind him to Ichiraku's.

"Mister! Four orders of the beef ramen!" Naruto shouted to the kind old man behind the counter.

"Baka! Don't just order things for people!" Sakura shouted, hitting him in the head playfully. Sasuke just smirked, but looked at the pair with warm eyes. Kagome had the oddest sense of déjà vu…

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

"_HENTAI!!" Sango shouted, hitting Miroku over the head with her boomerang. _

"_My dear Sango, it is the hand. It is cursed!" he said, his hand once again wandering to Sango's rear. Sango hit him in the head once again with her boomerang before his hand could connect with her butt. _

"_You never learn, do ya? Idiot monk. Oi, wench, hurry up with that ramen." Inuyasha said, sitting on his butt and not helping Kagome._

"_If you want it so bad, make it yourself!" Kagome shouted at him, handing him a cup of hot beef ramen. She also handed Sango and Miroku a cup and settled down with her own, sharing hers with Shippo. _

_They laughed and talked like there wasn't a care in the world._

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

Kagome broke out of her trance to see Naruto waving his chopsticks in her face.

"Kagome? The ramen's here." Naruto said, a fox-like grin on his face.

"Naruto, you can...have mine. I'm not really hungry." Kagome said, turning and walking out of the stand. She quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes before they could fall and ran home.

"K-Kagome?" Sakura shouted after her, startled by her sudden disappearance. Naruto quickly slurped down his ramen with a solemn face and slapped the money onto the counter, running after Kagome.

He found her sitting on a hilltop, staring at the moon. "Kagome? Can I sit with you?" She looked at him, tears on her cheeks, and nodded silently. Naruto sat down, a little bit away from her. He did not want her to feel threatened by his presence, but he did not want her to feel lonely either.

"Kagome, what happened?" he asked her quietly.

"They died. All my friends…died because of me…" she said quietly, her eyes brimming over with more tears.

"Don't be afraid of getting close to people." Naruto said, showing wisdom beyond his age. "If you push people away, all you'll accomplish is feeling lonely."

"Anyone who gets close to me will get killed…by **that **person." Kagome said, anger seeping into her voice.

"Loneliness is the worst, so don't condemn yourself to it." Naruto said, looking up at the bright moon. "We're here to support you so that you won't have to carry everything yourself. So don't worry about it on your own, 'kay?" Naruto said, giving her another grin.

Kagome looked at him with wide eyes before they softened and she looked back up at the moon. They stared up at it for a while, before Kagome turned to Naruto with a smile. Not a fake one like she normally has, but a real one, full of happiness. "Thanks." she whispered.

"Anytime." Naruto said, getting up and walking away. Before he left completely though, he turned and spoke something that would stick in her mind. "Just remember that you're not alone."

Kagome's eyes were as wide as saucers. She looked down at her feet.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

"_We're like sisters." Kagome said to Sango, grinning._

"_Nope." _

"_Eh?" Kagome asked, eyes wide with disbelief._

"_We ARE sisters." Sango said, giggling along with Kagome. Miroku watched with interest before his hand started to drift._

_It got lower and lower until…SLAP. "HENTAI!! You hentai monk!" Sango said, repeatedly bonking him on the head while screaming about perverts and holy men that aren't very holy. Kirara watched with interest as the monk fell unconscious after the third hit but Sango kept on hitting him. _

"_Feh. You never learn, you idiot monk." Inuyasha said, but his eyes were warm as he looked on at the scene. Shippo jumped into Kagome's opens arms and cuddled into her. _

"_Goodnight, mama." he said, yawning. _

"_Goodnight, my dear son." Kagome said, looking at Shippo's slumbering form kindly. She tucked him into her warm sleeping bag and watched as he latched onto her arm and wouldn't let go. She sighed and got in next to him. Everyone eventually fell asleep, the last of the fire flickering out. Even Inuyasha fell asleep while watching the peaceful faces of his friends. _

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

"I miss you all…Sango…Miroku…Shippo…Kirara…Inuyasha…" Kagome remembered all too well what Inuyasha had been like when he said that he had decided to go with Kikyo to hell.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_Sango was using her Hiraikotsu to kill all the demons that surrounded their camp. Miroku, at first, used his Kaazana, but gave that up after the Saimyosho flew into his wind tunnel, poisoning him with their deadly miasma. He then switched to using sacred sutras to fry them and his holy staff. Kagome was firing off arrow after arrow, her purifying energy turning the demons into ash. Shippo was by her, occasionally burning away demons with his Fox Fire. Kirara was using her claws and her teeth. But Inuyasha was just standing there, in the middle of the group not doing anything. _

"_Inuyasha, what are you doing?! Quickly kill them with the Tesusaiga!" Sango shouted, swinging her Hiraikotsu again. Inuyasha raised his head, and they saw a smirk and oddly empty eyes. _

"_No." _

"_NO?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?!" Sango shouted, her shoulders dropping from the strain put on them by Hiraikotsu. _

_Kikyo suddenly came out from the trees with her soul stealers drifting behind and around her. "He means that he's coming with me." she said, smirking. Inuyasha smirked wider and walked over to her, putting his arms around her. _

"_I've decided to go to hell with Kikyo." Inuyasha said, his eyes only on Kikyo._

"_You're kidding, right?" Kagome said, her voice shaking. Sure, she wasn't in love with Inuyasha anymore, but she loved him as a brother. "Please tell me this is all a joke." _

"_No joke." Inuyasha said. Then he smirked again and tilted Kikyo's chin up with his fingers. Her lips met his and they shared a kiss. It lasted for many long seconds. Kagome, Sango and Miroku looked away, bile rising in their throats. Shippo and Kirara gagged. _

"_We'll be leaving, and the next time we meet, we'll be enemies." Kikyo said smugly, walking away hand-in-hand with Inuyasha. The betrayal of Inuyasha hit them hard, but they were forcefully removed from dwelling on it by the many demons that still surrounded them._

_Sango and Kagome cried silent tears, while Miroku's face was grim. But they couldn't think about it for now. They had more important things to concentrate on, like the demons. But was that the truth, or was it an excuse…?_

_Betrayal._

_Sadness._

_Loss._

_Emptiness._

_Bitterness._

_Those were the things on the minds of the ex-comrades of Inuyasha that night. _

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

Kagome fell asleep with tears on her face, the moon shining innocently on her face. The rays that fell on her illuminated her pale skin and her raven hair, making her look ethereal.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One:

_**Recap:**_

_Kagome fell asleep with tears on her face, the moon shining innocently on her face. The rays that fell on her illuminated her pale skin and her raven hair, making her look ethereal. _

_**End Recap**_

_The next day…_

"Kagome-chan. Kagome-chan! Wake up!" some shouted, shaking her shoulders roughly. Kagome's eyes fluttered open and her vision gradually cleared until she could see the smiling face of her sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei? Where am I and what are you doing here?" Kagome asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"We are in the forest, and you fell asleep here. I'm surprised you didn't catch a cold." he said, smiling at her. He got up from his crouch and straightened, stretching his stiff limbs. Then he walked out of the clearing and a little deeper into the forest. Kagome stared after him, wide eyed for a while before getting up and following him.

What she saw surprised her to say in the least. Kakashi was standing stock-still in from of the memorial stone for ninjas that went M.I.A. Missing in action. He just stood there for hours, staring at a few particular names. Rin, Uchiha Obito, even the Fourth Hokage. Kagome went over and stood next to him, silent. She just stood with him for a couple hours staring at the monument.

'_At least now I know why he's always late…'_ Kagome thought bitterly. She could see that there were some people with the last name 'Hatake' on the memorial stone._ 'He must be the last one. How…sad…' _Kagome thought.

"We should probably head to the meeting spot." Kakashi said, turning to her with a smile. Kagome couldn't tell if it was fake or not, but she could tell that it was full of grief and…regret? Why would he be regretting?

_With the Team…_

"Mou…Kakashi-sensei and Kagome are both late!" Sakura whined. But instead of normally pestering Sasuke about dates and whatnot, she started to do some sit-ups and push-ups. Sasuke and Naruto were both shocked. In fact, they were so shocked that Sasuke was openly gaping, his jaw to the floor and Naruto had fallen over. After the sit-ups and push-ups, Sakura pulled out a scroll and summoned her Mini Kotsu.

"Sakura, where did you get that HUGE BOOMERANG!?" Naruto yelled, pointing at it.

"Oh, right, you don't know. I'm being trained by Kagome."

"NANI?! (what?!)" his scream could be heard all around Konoha. Villagers shivered.

"So am I." Sasuke said monotonously. He smirked at Naruto's reaction.

"NANI!?"

"What's up?" Kakashi said cheerfully, poofing with Kagome.

"Kagome, Kagome! Is it true that you're training both of them?!" Naruto shouted, hopping over to Kagome. She nodded. "Then why am I the only one who isn't getting trained?!"

Kagome looked surprised. "Did you…want to be trained?" Naruto nodded up and down vigorously. Kakashi looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You were training them?" he asked, his nose wrinkled in suspicion.

"For different reasons." Kagome said, backing away from the ecstatic Naruto. Kagome beckoned Kakashi forward as she placed weight seals on Naruto's ankles as well. Then she took out a scroll and summoned another katana, this one the opposite of Sasuke's.

Instead of a black sheath with red crisscrossing cloth on it, it was pure white with blue cloth crisscrossing on the sheath's surface. When Naruto pulled out the blade and inserted a bit of his chakra, it turned into a pale fang that was as thin and as long as Sasuke's and shone like the moon. It was also just as heavy, and that was proven when Naruto plummeted to the ground, the blade in tow.

"AGH! WHAT DOES THIS SWORD WEIGH?!" Naruto shouted, desperately trying to lift the sword up.

"Enough. Adding to the weight on your ankles, I'm surprised you can stand up." Kagome said, pointing to his shaking legs. Naruto was able to stand on his shaky legs for a few minutes before he collapsed on the ground.

Kagome motioned for him to lay down. He did it, but looked at her, puzzled. "600 sit-ups. 600 push-ups. Then you spar with me." Naruto groaned.

"Slave driver." he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Kagome whispered in a dangerous voice.

"Nothing. Nothing at all!!" Naruto quickly said, doing the many sit-ups. He looked at Kagome, who seemed happier than normal. _'I'm glad…'_

"Hey, Naruto. Hurry up." Sasuke said, walking away. "I'm going to Ichiraku's for some lunch."

"RAMEN! NOOOO, MY RAMEN!!" Naruto shouted, trying to go after him, but the weight from everything was too much, plus Kagome had placed a foot on his back to prevent him from moving.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked in a dangerous voice. "You have to finish your sit-ups and push-ups. You leave, and I'll force you to run 500 laps around Konoha."

"H-hai." Naruto said, crying anime-tears over his lost ramen.

Naruto, that night was so worn out, that he fell asleep right on the ground where he was training.

_The next morning…_

"NARUTO! HOW YOUTHFUL IT IS TO SEE YOU UP SO EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR TRAINING! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH DANCE IN YOUR VEINS!" Lee and Gai shouted into his ear.

Naruto jerked awake and shouted, "No, Kagome please, DON'T! AHH, ANYONE SAVE ME FROM THAT SLAVE DRIVER-huh? Where am I? Why are you here, Fuzzy-Brows?" Tenten and Neji both raised an eyebrow at his outburst.

"Slave driver?" Tenten asked for all of them. Naruto slumped down, tired and weighed down.

"Kagome is the most evil trainer in the history of trainers." he muttered taking out his katana and handing it to her. He told her to put a bit of her chakra into it and then stepped back.

"What?" Tenten asked him, confused.

"Just do it." she was still puzzled, but she did what he asked. When she did, the blade transformed into a very heavy fang, and it dropped to the ground, Tenten's arms unable to hold it up. "What the hell?! Why's it so heavy??" Tenten asked. Then she started to inspect the sword, amazed by its structure and make.

"Where did you get the sword from?" Neji asked, Tenten occupied by her fascination.

"Kagome gave it to me to, what was it, train my arms. That evil evil, sadist." Naruto muttered stretching out his arms while sitting on the ground. His legs were still heavy as hell due to the unnatural weight on them.

"Did you say something about me, Naruto? You know, I can always add more weight to your ankles." Kagome said, suddenly appearing behind him. He stiffened, shivered and turned around slowly with a scared and sheepish smile.

"H-hey K-k-kagome, w-what's u-up?" Naruto said quietly, stuttering.

"100 laps around Konoha. **Now. **then back here for 700 push-ups and sit-ups. Then we spar." Kagome said quietly in a if-you-go-against-me-I-will-literally-tear-out-your-heart-and-make-you-eat-it-if-you-do-not-obey-me-immediately sort of tone. Now, was Naruto stupid? Maybe a little, but he was not a fool, so he jumped up, ignoring the weight on his ankles, took his sword back with loud protests from Tenten, and ran to do one hundred laps around Konoha.

Neji, Lee and Gai watched him go, Lee and Gai both shouting some nonsense about youth while Tenten was grieving about her loss in seeing an unusual sword. Neji turned to Kagome.

"Fight with me." he said. She raised an eyebrow. Just like in the Chuunin Exams, Neji got into a position good for both defensive and offensive attacks, and Kagome mirrored him. The rest of his teammates backed away. Tenten did it quietly, but Gai and Lee shouted about youth all the way.

At first it was a taijutsu match, Kagome and Neji constantly blocking each others punches and kicks. Kagome did a sweeping kick, but Neji jumped and tried to punch her stomach. Kagome dodged by doing a back flip, almost kicking Neji in the process, but able to skin his chin.

He jumped back and started to use his Byakugan. "_**Hakkeshou Kaiten.**_" (Divination Whirl) Kagome was forced to jump back in mid-air to avoid being hit by his whirlwind of chakra.

"So serious already…" Tenten whispered from the sidelines, confident that Neji would win.

Neji concentrated, Kagome in his range for his Divination Field, 64 strikes. "**Jyuuken Move, **_**Hakke Rokujuuyonshou.**_" he raced forward, hitting every one of her chakra points. He was so concentrated, he never noticed that small smile lingering on her lips.

Once he had finished, he turned his back on her, a smirk on his lips. "It's over."

"Now, now, Neji. You should know by now that it isn't over. You'd think that being beaten by Naruto would have shown you that, but I guess it didn't." Kagome's lilting voice called from the cloud of dust surrounding her. When the dust settled and cleared, Neji gasped. Kagome was standing there with both palms up. In one palm, there was a spiralling tower of white chakra. In the other, there was a spiralling tower of purple miko energy.

The wind from both of these destructive and healing energies whipped her hair around, playing with it. There was a small smirk on her lips. The towers of energy suddenly retracted into flat glowing disks in her hands. She jumped up and threw them at Neji, who used his Hakkeshou Kaiten to stop them from hitting him. They veered around him, tendril of energy sprouting from the disks and tying themselves around him and to a tree. Kagome suddenly appeared in front of Neji, who was struggling to get out of the energy's grasp.

Neji stood stock-still with wide eyes as Kagome took off his hitai-ate. Pressing a glowing palm to his curse mark, she released some of her miko energy into it, purifying the mark. "Fate, huh? I was always under the impression that the choices you make decide your own fate. Not some silly mark. That is why I'm setting you free from your cage." She whispered the last part to him and took her palm away from his forehead.

Kagome created an ice mirror and handed it to Neji who took it with a puzzled look. Peering into it, he nearly dropped it when he saw that the mark that was forcefully put on him was no longer there.

"It's…gone…" Neji whispered. She only smiled at him and released him from the chakra strings tying him to the tree. Then Kagome turned and walked away to where Naruto would be waiting to get trained by her. Everyone's eyes followed her.

"She….beat Neji…" Tenten whispered, her eyes wide. Neji looked back into the mirror and touched his forehead with trembling fingers.

"Thank you…" he whispered, looking into the sky where a lone dove circled above him. "I'm free…"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two:

_**Recap:**_

"_Thank you__…"__ he whispered, looking into the sky where a lone dove circled above him. __"__I__'__m free__…"_

_**End Recap**_

Naruto jumped up from his sitting position and pointed an accusing finger at Kagome.

"What took you so long?! I've been waiting so long I've finished my push-ups and sit-ups!!" Naruto yelled. Then he walked toward her and inspected her face very closely. "What's up? You look…happier than normal."

"Nothing much." Kagome said with a secretive grin. "I just had a match with Neji."

"Really?! Did you win?!" Naruto asked, jumping up and down.

"I did the same thing you did. Well, with a couple differences." Kagome said, smiling.

"Hm…so you beat 'Destiny', like he would say." Naruto said, brooding.

"You could say that…Now get up. It's time to spar with me." Kagome said, her voice going from mysterious to commanding.

"You talk a lot more." Naruto said, pouting and getting up. Kagome ignored his statement and got into an offensive position and drew out one of her katanas. Naruto did the same with his sword. His eyes widened, however, when she disappeared from his vision only to reappear at his side, slashing her sword at his arm. Naruto jumped away before she could cut his arm off, but still got a small cut on him.

It was like this for a long time, Kagome disappearing and reappearing only for him to be forced to jump away before she could almost kill him. Naruto was sweating and panting while Kagome just stood there, barking for him to get up. "Come on Naruto, you want to get stronger, don't you? Then get up and **attack **me!" Naruto lunged at her, but only managed to get crushed under her foot when she kicked him down.

That was how Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata found him. Struggling against Kagome's foot while she just stood there reading.

"Hey, Naruto, I can't believe you're getting your butt handed to you by a girl!" Kiba yelled at him, laughing his own ass off.

"K-kiba, that's a b-bit r-rude-" Hinata started, but was cut off by Naruto's war cry. Naruto had managed to get back on his feet and was running at Kiba. Kagome stopped him by grabbing onto the back of the collar of his shirt, stopping him mid-jump.

Naruto tried to wiggle out of her iron-grip but failed and hung there limply. Then he got an idea and smirked. "Why don't you try fighting her? I bet you'll lose badly." Naruto taunted.

"Why would I?" Kiba called back, starting to get pissed.

"What? Afraid you'll losssssseeeeee? Kiba's a chicken, Kiba's a chicken, Kiba's a-" he was cut off by a low growl.

"Fine! I'll fight her, but I warn you, she'll only get hurt." Kiba said, his cocky statement pissing off Kagome a little even if she didn't show it. She disappeared and reappeared in front of him and kicked him in the stomach so he went flying back.

Kagome then got into a defensive position and waited for Kiba to come out of the forest to where she oh-so-lightly kicked him. Kiba did come out, coughing from all the dust and rubble he had created. He glared at her and fed Akamaru a soldier pill. They turned into matching Kiba clones.

"_**Gatusuuga!**_" Both of the Kiba's formed a tornado like whirling mass with deadly claws and teeth. Every time they tried to hit Kagome though, they would miss by a couple millimetres.

After around the fortieth time he tried to hit her, Kiba stopped and Akamaru transformed back into a dog, both of them panting.

"Why-(pant)-I-(pant)-hit-(pant)-you?" Kiba asked.

"Your attack only moves in straight or only slightly curved lines. It is very easy to avoid if you know where you are going to attack from." Kagome explained quietly, her book in her hand. Kiba collapsed while Akamaru padded up to Kagome tiredly and rolled over, exposing his furry belly to her. She knelt down and gave him a belly rub, him purring and his limbs twitching.

"Akamaru, what are you doing?" Kiba asked him. It was rare for Akamaru to take to a person this quickly and even longer before he trusted some enough to touch his vulnerable belly.

"_I am showing my respect for the alpha._" Akamaru barked back at him in Inu (dog) language.

"_It is nice to meet you, Akamaru. Is he your alpha as well or are you partners?_" Kagome barked, growled and yipped at him quietly. (Yes, she can speak Inu too.) Kiba looked shocked.

"_You can speak Inu?!_" Kiba asked, amazed.

"_Yeah…I sorta learned it…_" she barked back vaguely, lying through her teeth. Well she did learn it, but it was from the blood bond that she had with Sesshomaru. Shippo had taught her Kitsune (fox) language too once she had adopted him.

"U-um…I'm s-sorry to interrupt but we have to m-meet with Kurenai-sensei for a m-mission." Hinata stammered, blushing under everyone's gazes. Kiba stood up, fully rested and called Akamaru over to him. Akamaru complied, albeit a bit unwillingly, tearing himself from Kagome's belly rub.

He turned around and whimpered one last time before bounding over to Kiba who was already walking away with his team.

"HEY, HEY! DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME?!" Naruto shouted into her ear, making her partially deaf.

"N…A…..R……U…..T….OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Kagome yelled, yes YELLED. This was the first time she had ever yelled in front of other people ever since she had gotten to this world and let's just say you wouldn't ever want to get on her bad side. Naruto cowered and ran like any sane person would, running so fast that you would think that Satan himself was after him. Kagome gave a small evil smile before following after him, catching up fast.

Whoever they passed by was almost blown away by the wind whipping around them. Ino and Sakura were unfortunately a couple of their victims.

"Hey, Naruto! Kagome!" Sakura shouted cheerfully when she saw them. Naruto just ran past her as fast as he could, literally blurring. Kagome followed and then the wind and dust they had kicked up hit them. They were left staring after the duo with wide eyes.

"What…just happened here?" Sakura asked shakily.

"I have no idea." Ino replied just as shaky.

Kagome kept on chasing Naruto, gaining ground, and FAST. "NOOOOOOO!" Naruto yelled, finally collapsing. Kagome loomed over him with a dangerous aura. "I beg you, Satan, please spare my life!!" A hysterical laughter broke him out of his begging.

Shikamaru and Chouji stood there, gripping each other for support so that they wouldn't fall down from laughing.

"Who would've thought that Naruto would beg someone, and a GIRL no less to spare his life. I have to thank you for the entertainment on this boring morning." Shikamaru said, wiping away tears that had cropped up in his insane laughter.

Chouji offered some chips to Kagome as a prize for scaring the shit out of Naruto. She gave him a small evil little smirk and took some.

Naruto was sitting on the ground grumbling. "Guess that's what I get for doing nothing at all." Kagome turned to him very very slowly.

"Nothing…at…all. Oh yes, making me deaf is considered NOTHING, AT, ALL!!" She screamed the last part into his ear, giving him a taste of his own medicine. He jumped and whimpered, holding his sore ear.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry okay?" he apologized, still holding onto his ear. Kagome nodded to show that she forgave him, turning back into her withdrawn, stoic self. "And as an apology, let's go get some ramen!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and dragging Kagome with him to the stand.

Kagome just sat there, not eating and watched as Naruto slurped down bowl after bowl of ramen.

"Whas wong K'goma?" Naruto asked, his mouth full of ramen as he turned to look at her. (What's wrong Kagome?)

"Nothing. I'm just not hungry." she said quietly, raising an eyebrow at his show of bad table manners. He gave her sheepish smile and swallowed his huge mouthful of ramen.

"Why aren't you hungry?" Naruto asked.

"Because, oh-ramen-crazed-one," Kagome said as if she were praising him, "not everyone's thoughts must revolve around 'ramen' or 'food'." Kagome was secretly smiling so no one could see her as she kept watching a happy Naruto order more and more.

'_He must be supporting the Ichiraku's ramen stand all on his own judging on how much he orders and how often he goes here…'_ Kagome thought, sweat dropping as she saw the sheer number of Naruto's empty ramen bowls. There were so many it completely covered the countertop.

"Um…Naruto? I have to go home…" Kagome said to him. Naruto looked at her and nodded.

"Bye Kagome!" Kagome walked out of the shop, and looked up at the sky. She had been in the ramen shop for so long with Naruto that it was already dark. She walked to a nearby meadow and lied down, staring up at the stars. She heard someone sigh to her left and jumped up, not sensing a presence.

"Who's there?" Kagome called out, her voice challenging yet soft and deadly. A figure yawned and sat up, eyeing her carefully.

"It's me, Shikamaru, Kagome. No need to disturb my peaceful nap." Shikamaru said, yawning. Kagome raised an eyebrow at this.

"And how long have you been 'napping' here?" she asked, her eyebrow still raised.

"A while…" Shikamaru replied vaguely. He yawned again and lied back down. They lied down in a comfortable silence for a while before Kagome got up and left for her home.

"'Night." she told him quietly.

"'Night." Shikamaru said, pretty much to himself since she had left already. "Now why did I say goodnight back?" he asked himself, puzzled by his own actions. He thought about it for a while before sighing and closing his eyes. "Troublesome…"

_The next morning…_

Shikamaru awoke to the sound of people yelling. "You wake him!" A female voice yelled.

"No! You wake him!" Ah. This one was male.

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"YOU!"

"YOU!"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS!" A third voice roared. Shikamaru finally got up, much to the surprise of the three people. Shikamaru looked at them, puzzled. They were definitely not from this village, seeing as he had never seen them before.

One had flaming red hair and brilliant emerald eyes, full of mischief. The fiery hair was held up in a high ponytail, much like the one next to him. The one next to him had black hair up in a high ponytail and was wearing…fur leggings and shorts, along with some sort of armour type shirt. The last one was clearly a female, with auburn hair up in two pigtails and she also had on fur leggings and shorts with armour shirts but the only difference was that the fur that she was wearing was white.

"Who are you people and why have you come to our village?" Shikamaru asked, his face free of any emotion as he leapt back and grabbed a kunai out of his holster.

"Whoa! Calm down!" the one with black hair said, placing his hands on front of him as a sign that he meant no harm. "We're just here to see a girl named Higurashi Kagome."

Shikamaru eyed them even more carefully. Who were they and how did they know Kagome? He could bring them into Konoha and to the Hokage, but he was risking letting in enemy ninjas. He could attack them but then he might be attacking potential allies. The more Shikamaru thought about it, the more complex and confusing it got. He sighed

"Troublesome…" Then he got an idea. "Wait outside the gates and we'll send Kagome out." _'With a couple more people…' _Shikamaru added silently. The other three people hesitated, but nodded.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three:

_**Recap:**_

_Shikamaru eyed them even more carefully. Who were they and how did they know Kagome? He could bring them into Konoha and to the Hokage, but he was risking letting in enemy ninjas. He could attack them but then he might be attacking potential allies. The more Shikamaru thought about it, the more complex and confusing it got. He sighed_

"_Troublesome__…"__ Then he got an idea. __"__Wait outside the gates and we__'__ll send Kagome out.__"__'__With a couple more people__…'__ Shikamaru added silently. The other three people hesitated, but nodded. _

_**End Recap**_

Shikamaru ran as fast as he could to the Hokage Tower. He burst into the room, startling out of her sever hangover due to all the sake she had drunk.

"Hokage-sama! There are three people outside the gates asking for Kagome!" he shouted, which was completely out of his character. Tsunade let this process for a second before shouting,

"_**WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!" **_

"There are three people-" he tried again, but was cut off.

"I heard you the first time! What do you mean?!"

"There are three unknown, un-Konohanian people outside that just asked for her to see them!" Tsunade looked at him with wide eyes before yelling for her ANBU to bring her Higurashi Kagome. Said person arrived just outside the window and jumped in.

"No need to search. What do you need from me?" she asked lazily.

"There are three people outside that are definitely not one of the citizens in Konoha. And they are asking for YOU." Tsunade ground out, looking at Kagome with suspicion.

Kagome looked a little startled before she wiped her face blank of any emotions. "What did they look like?" Tsunade gestured for Shikamaru to describe them.

"One of them had black hair up in a ponytail and was wearing brown fur. One had auburn hair, green eyes and civilian clothes. The last one also had red hair, but it was up in two pigtails, and she was wearing white fur."

Kagome stiffened. "Were all these people oddly handsome or pretty?"

"You could say that." Shikamaru said, frowning at the memory. Kagome inhaled sharply, causing the two other people in the room to look at her. She was shaking, and ran out of the room like a bullet towards the gates. Tsunade and Shikamaru followed after her, cursing.

When they reached the gate, they saw Kagome standing there, stock-still and the guards trying to keep the three people from running to her.

"You may NOT enter unless given permission! Please stay behind the gates!" One of the guards yelled, trying to stop the eager people from Kagome.

"OI! KOTETSU! What's going on?!" Tsunade yelled, causing the guards to falter and let the three people lunge at Kagome, tackling her with hugs.

"KAGOME!" the three chorused, smiling and hugging her. Kagome looked like she was in a state of shock.

"Kouga, Ayame and Shippo? You guys can't be here! You guys aren't from this world!" Kagome exclaimed. She scratched at her right wrist, pushing down the fabric of her black fingerless gloves.

**Kagome POV**

'_The mark…it's not responding…' _I thought, looking down at my wrist where Shippo's mark of the two fox ears were supposed to be. The mark should have glowed or something, rejoicing at the closeness of my adopted kit from years ago, and yet, nothing happened. I stayed looking at her wrist for an extended period of time.

"Ano…Kagome? Are you okay?" Ayame asked me timidly. My eyes narrowed. Ayame was not this weak-hearted.

"Yeah…I'm fine. So, when did you guys mate?" I asked them casually, studying their necks for any new marks.

"Oh, we're not mated. We're just really good friends." Ayame said, laughing good-naturedly. Now this really started to warning bells in my head, but the next sentence that Kouga said was what really confirmed my suspicions.

"Now, now, Ayame. You know we're more than that. You'll always be **my woman**." memories of my old life in the Sengoku Jidai (Edo Period, I think.) flashed through my head.

"_Kagome is __MY __woman, mutt-face!"_

"_Kouga, don't you remember? You promised you would make me your bride on the night of the lunar rainbow!"_

"_So you're name is Kagome? Well, I'm not giving Kouga over without a fight! So be prepared!" _

"_Kagome, you will always be my woman."_

"_Okaa-san. Okaa-san." _

**End Kagome POV**

She suddenly glanced back up at the three people. Faster than you could blink, she had a kunai to 'Shippo's' throat.

"Who the hell are you?" Kagome hissed, her voice low and filled with venom.

"I'm Shippo! Your kit!" 'Shippo' said.

"No you're not. If you were, I would feel something from that mark." she said, her eyes narrowing. "I'll ask you again, who are you?" Tsunade and Shikamaru plus the guards were in a state of disbelief as they saw the innocent smile on the man's face be replaced with a creepy one. The disguise poofed away and was replaced by a man who had flowing black hair and blood red eyes.

"Naraku…" Kagome hissed. The other two 'people' (Kouga and Ayame) disappeared from existence with a puff of smoke. "Clone Jutsu…"

"Hello, my dear miko. Tell me, how is it that you are in this world?" Naraku purred, not at all fazed by the kunai she still held to his throat.

"I'm here to kill you." Kagome shot at him sharply, pressing the kunai in a bit more. He smiled crazily at her before disappearing from sight. Kagome cursed and flung herself in front of Tsunade, tentacles piercing her stomach.

"K-Kagome…" Tsunade, whispered. Kagome sent out her purifying energy to the tentacles in her stomach, purifying them. Then she looked at Naraku and attacked him with her katanas, purple miko energy raging like flames around them. Cut by cut, Naraku's many tentacles were steadily purified into ash. The others could only watch on with a mixture of fascination and horror.

Naraku taunted the miko relentlessly about being Kikyo's copy, hoping that she would take the bait and leave an opening in where he could impale or kill her. He internally panicked when he saw nothing in the miko's face. Not even a flicker in her eyes.

Kagome only kept attacking persistently, never even pausing with the wound in her stomach steadily oozing her blood. Naraku knew when he was in a losing battle and he quickly jumped out of the gates, disappearing into the ground. Kagome leaped after him only to punch the ground he disappeared into.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!" Kagome chanted, punching the ground with each word. Tsunade stopped her and pressed a hand to Kagome's flowing wound. She was about to put her energy into it when Kagome grabbed her hands and shook her head.

Kagome enveloped herself in a bubble of her miko energy and Tsunade could only watch as she was healed instantly. She fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Someone needs to explain this to me…" Shikamaru said, sighing lazily. At this point, Kagome immediately blacked out.

_In the hospital…_

Kagome woke up to find her head pounding and familiar voices yelling, which were not helping her headache.

"Baa-chan! What happened to Kagome?!" That was probably Naruto.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Ahh...that was Tsunade. "She doesn't have any wounds, but she overused her…um…energy and blacked out." _'Plus the shock of letting that bastard get away must have gotten to her.'_ Tsunade added quietly in her mind.

"So she's alright?" That voice belonged to Sakura.

"Yes."

"Hn." Sasuke's famous catchphrase! Kagome giggled at this in her mind (She would never do that in public or else she would lose her reputation as stoic and unreachable!). Kagome decided it was time for her to 'wake up'.

She opened her eyes and immediately blinked to get rid of the glare from the sun that was in her eyes. Getting over the spots that danced in front of her eyes, Kagome looked around her and saw white. It was all white with a few blots of colour. These blots of colour happened to be her teammates and sensei and Tsunade.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kakashi asked, smiling underneath the mask. Kagome groaned and glared at him.

"How do you think I feel? I'm in a hospital." she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, I hate them too…" he replied, ignoring her glare. Everyone sweat dropped except for the glaring person and the one who was talking to her.

_The next day, during lunch…_

"We're gathered here today to celebrate Kagome getting out of the hospital!" Ino shouted in her flower shop, holding up a glass of juice. Shikamaru snorted.

"Sure, that's what you say, but you just had extra food and drinks and needed a reason to get everyone together to eat it, right?" Ino threw her shoe at him, and he calmly dodged. Ino growled and reached for the mashed potatoes at him. Shikamaru's eyes widened and he ducked before he could get hit by the goopy substance. Unfortunately, Sakura was right behind him, so the potatoes hit her dead on the face. Everyone was frozen, looking between Ino and Sakura.

Sakura wiped the potatoes off her face, and calmly walked over to the food table, picking up the plate of spaghetti. Then she let out a war-cry and threw them at Ino, who jumped out of the way. It missed her by a few centimetres and splattered onto Lee and Tenten, spaghetti and tomato sauce all over them.

"I must be YOUTHFUL and participate in this battle of the foods!" Lee yelled, running over to the table and taking the fruit salad, throwing it straight at Neji. Neji's eyes widened, and he used a jutsu to poof to the other side of the room, leaving Sasuke to the fruit salad's wrath. It ended up landing on his torso, sliding down in a sticky fruit path and leaving a VERY noticeable stain.

Sasuke growled and suddenly everyone was leaping for the food table, grabbing whatever they could get their hands on and throwing it at other people.

"FOOD FIGHT!" someone yelled, everyone getting hit by the flying refreshments and snacks. Neji was hit by a cup of fruit punch, and he retaliated by throwing the plate of steaks at the nearest unlucky person who happened to be Naruto. Steaks landed everywhere, mostly on his blond hair. Food flew back and forth and Chouji sat next to a indifferent Kagome, mourning the food that was wasted.

"Wait! Stop! My precious pork chops! The steak! AHHH, NOT THE CHIPS! NOOOOOOOOOO!!" Chouji screamed girlishly. Finally he could take no more and fainted from the shock of losing his precious meal. Kagome sighed and put a barrier around herself so she couldn't get dirty.

"Hey! Kagome! That's no fair! No cheating with your barrier!!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at Kagome, who sighed but nodded and dropped her barrier. Naruto shared a sly smile with the other rookies and Neji, Tenten and Lee. The turned their grinning faces to Kagome who's eyes widened and she started to back away. Then she tried to turn and run, but she was caught by Neji transporting in front of her and catching her arms in an iron grip.

Tenten acted quickly, securing Kagome's legs. Then Lee put Kagome in a headlock and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked forwards, shoving a pie into her face and rubbing it in. The others promptly let go of her and jumped away, satisfied smirks on her face.

Kagome carefully wiped the pie off her face, giving the people an icy glare. Then she used her power over the elements and called up a strong wind and turned it into a tornado, sucking up all the food into a spinning cyclone.

Kagome gave them a big, fake innocent smile and made her tornado move towards the other people involved in the food fight, ignoring their pleas for mercy. She laughed openly, for the first time in a long time, making the others stare at her. When they did, Kagome laughed even harder. They looked so funny with food hanging off them and their faces and hair dirty with various ingredients in Ino's food.

"K-Kagome, y-y-y-y-you're laughing…." Shikamaru and Kiba stuttered, pointing and shaking as if she were some sort of ghost or something. "Y-you actually l-look h-h-happy…" When they said this Kagome promptly froze in her laughing and her eyes widened. One sentence was running through her mind.

'_What the HELL am I doing?' _When Kagome realized what she was doing, her face turned expressionless, everything blank except for a hint of panic in her eyes. _'The more time I spend with them, the more they are in danger! ANYONE is in danger if they are with me! Naraku will use them and kill them. I can't do this anymore…I already care for them too much.' _

Kagome remembered her friends. Sango, fighting to the death in the middle of a hoard of demons. Miroku lying on the ground, bloody and battered until his Kaazana overwhelmed and sucked him into oblivion. Sesshomaru, her brother giving up his life so that he could destroy Kagura and help her in some way. His dying words. Kirara, the most loyal demon she had ever seen. Kagome couldn't put anymore people into danger.

She made the ultimate decision.

Kagome was leaving.

Quick as a flash, she ran out, despite the loud protests from her 'friends' and ran until she was at the Hokage Tower. Bursting into the room without knocking, she managed to scare Tsunade right out of her chair.

"Higurashi! What is the meaning of this?!" she yelled, getting up off the floor and back into her chair.

"I'm leaving Konoha." This blunt statement made the Hokage's eyes widen until her eyes were as big as half her face.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four:

_**Recap:**_

"_I__'__m leaving Konoha.__"__ This blunt statement made the Hokage__'__s eyes widen until her eyes were as big as half her face. _

_**End Recap**_

"You're what?!" Tsunade spluttered out, losing her cool.

"I'm leaving. As the Hokage of the village, you must let me do this."

"And why should I do that?" Tsunade asked, putting back her cool and calm façade.

"I am endangering these people. Naraku will use them and kill them in order to get to me. I cannot ignore this fact anymore. I must leave." Tsunade sighed.

"Is there any other option?"

"No." Kagome said coldly. Tsunade hesitated for a moment. Then she steeled her self and kept her face blank.

"Will you come back?" she asked, her voice grave.

"In four years. I promise." Kagome said, placing her hand over her heart.

"No matter what? Even if Naraku is still alive?"

At this, Kagome was the one to hesitate. After considering this for a moment, she knew that she would either agree to this, or Tsunade would not let her out of the village. That message was clear in the Hokage's eyes. "Yes. I will." Tsunade gave a firm nod, and her eyes softened.

"Kagome, you mean more to your friends than you think. They want to help you, no matter what happens. That's what friends do."

"I-I…know." Kagome said, bowing her head and showing uncharacteristic weakness. But no matter how much Kagome wanted to stay in the village with her…friends, she couldn't put them in more danger. It wasn't fair when they had their whole lives ahead of them only to be killed by someone else's enemy who was only in that world because of her mistake. It wasn't fair.

"Even if you're leaving and coming back in a few years, I want you to know this. You are the most stubborn, odd and…kind girl I have ever met. And that's why I'm saying that we will always welcome you back to your _home_. Here in Konoha." Tsunade said, giving the girl a grin. Kagome grinned back and bowed.

"Thank you for taking care of me and please tell the Sandaime that I'm grateful for his help as well." Kagome turned to leave but was stopped by Tsunade's voice, a hint of panic underlying the words.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to the others?"

Kagome did not even turn her head, but this was so the Hokage would not see the one tear making its way down her face. "No. It will attach them dangerously close to me. I cannot take that risk." she paused. "Please tell the others I'm sorry and I will be back." she added in a quiet voice. Tsunade whispered that she would.

With that, Kagome turned and walked out of the office, heading for the gates of Konoha.

_Approximately ten seconds later…_

"BAA-CHAN!!" Naruto yelled, kicking the door open and running in with Sasuke and Sakura in tow.

"DAMNIT NARUTO! NOT THE DOOR! CAN'T YOU JUST OPEN IT NORMALLY FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE?!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Where's Kagome?"

Tsunade stiffened and sighed. "Naruto…I want you to get all of the Rookie Ten and Team Gai in here please." Naruto looked like he was about to protest but at the serious expression on the Hokage's face, he stopped and nodded, running out of the office.

_Later…_

By the time Naruto had assembled all of the people Tsunade had asked for, it was late and everyone was grumbling and asking about why they had to be here.

"I don't know! All I know is that there's something that she needs to tell us." Naruto said, waving his hands in the air for emphasis. They entered the office and Tsunade looked up, her face sad and serious. Everyone immediately stopped grumbling and stood at attention, eyes wide.

"Everyone, I have some sad news for you." she started. Everyone waited with baited breath. "Kagome left Konoha."

Silence.

More silence.

Then….

"WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!"

Tsunade winced at the sheer volume. Everyone yelled, even Neji and Sasuke.

"Kagome left KONOHA!? WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?!" Naruto was so angry that he didn't even use 'obaa-chan' once in the sentence.

"Naruto. Shut up for a moment and let me explain!" Tsunade said, slamming her hands on her desk. Once again, the room was quiet. "Kagome left Konoha for personal reasons. She's out there to get stronger and…help us in every way she can. This was her own decision. I had no right in stopping her."

Hinata stepped forward. "Will she be coming back?" she asked quietly, never stuttering. Tsunade nodded and everyone let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding.

"She's coming back in four years." Nobody commented, but the grim looks on their faces told enough.

"I hope that she'll be happy…" Hinata whispered, clasping her shaking hands together. Hinata looked up to Kagome, not only for her strength but her kindness. And yet, even if Kagome was amazingly strong, she never boasted once. Hinata had wanted to become her friend, even if she had never had any just because of that look that she had seen in Kagome's eyes. Hinata could remember it oh-so-well.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_Hinata was training endlessly, throwing shuriken after shuriken and punch after punch. She trained for hours on end sometimes, coming home battered and tired. On that particular day, Hinata quietly trudged back home, only to see a flash of colour in the back of the school. Hinata trembled, but her curiosity got the best of her and quiet as a ghost she slipped down the dark path and poked her head around the corner. _

_What she saw shocked her no doubt. Kagome was leaning against the wall on the ground, her back against it. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and there were tears running down her face, silent sobs racking her body. The hollow look in her eyes was what shocked Hinata. _

_Loneliness. The lonely look in Kagome's eyes was as bad as Naruto. She was suffering by herself, dying slowly inside because of the sorrow and loneliness eating away at her heart. The sadness was so overwhelming that Hinata could feel tears brimming over her half-lidded eyes and she quickly ran home so she wouldn't be noticed spying. _

_It was the next day that they would be put into their teams._

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

"Don't worry, Hinata, I'm sure she's very happy." _Not. _Tsunade lied, smiling at the timid girl in front of her. Hinata could tell she was lying, but decided not to press it while in front of the others. She always had been sharp.

Without another word, the people assembled in the office trudged out of its doors, all their heads hanging. Only the four senseis remained in the room.

"Was this really her decision, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked. She had seen Kagome grow on all of her students and grow on her in turn. She had an uncanny ability to worm her way into people's hearts.

"Yes," she said tiredly. "Kagome was the one who made this decision."

"Why did you not try and stop her?!" Kakashi growled, already missing his mysterious student. She was the one who seemed to keep the group together and added a bit of entertainment to his dreary days. He was also a bit overprotective of her like a father ever since he had seen her sleeping on the ground, appearing vulnerable and weak. It was very….unnerving to see such a strong person look so weak.

"I did." Tsunade growled back. She was also overprotective of the small girl, having heard her heart-breaking story. It was wrenching to know how much Kagome had been through, while her mind was not fully matured. "This was purely her decision. She was set on it, and I had no right to stop her."

Kakashi noted the sorrow in the Hokage's eyes and stepped back and bowed. "I am sorry for my rudeness, Hokage-sama. I have overstepped my boundaries."

The Hokage waved off his apology. "It is fine, you must be concerned for your underling as well." Kakashi nodded and bowed once again. All the senseis also left the office, silent.

Tsunade groaned and blew a wisp of her hair away from her face. "You've only been gone for a couple hours and everyone's already losing it. You better hurry back, Higurashi."

_**Four Years Later…**_

Kakashi growled and struck down another youkai. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were doing the same thing around him, careful to not get cut by the poison dripping claws and fangs. Sakura threw a kunai and immediately reached for another one, only to grab thin air.

"No! That was my last kunai!"

"Mine too." Sasuke growled. Naruto made a small noise, but they could see that he was also holding his very last weapon. Kakashi growled when he realized that there were still many more youkai, all looking at them with hunger.

"Ssssso, it lookssss like the little ninjassss have finally given up." a snake youkai hissed, showing his sharp fangs as she threw his head back and laughed. His scaly skin was not even pierced by the many weapons they had thrown at him with deadly accuracy. Kakashi gritted his teeth but he knew that the youkai was right. They couldn't protect themselves anymore, they had no weapons. Their chakra was depleted. There was no way out.

Just as he was about to give up completely, a shining…thing came from the trees and purified a row of youkai. Kakashi's, Sasuke's, Sakura's and Naruto's heads all whipped to where it had come from. A blur rushed from there and suddenly there was a person in front of them, facing the growling mob youkai.

The figure quickly killed them and purified them all to ash, holding two glowing katanas. The person turned. Kakashi saw the ANBU-looking mask and breathed out, "Kage Tenshi."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five:

_**Recap:**_

_A blur rushed from there and suddenly there was a person in front of them, facing the growling mob youkai._

_The figure quickly killed them and purified them all to ash, holding two twin glowing katanas. The person turned. Kakashi saw the ANBU-looking mask and breathed out, __"__Kage Tenshi.__"_

_**End Recap**_

His students gasped. 'Kage Tenshi' was very famous, due to the fact that he or she had saved numerous lives that would have otherwise been lost.

The nickname had been given when Kagome first disguised herself and saved an elderly man and his family in the Land of Waves. Since she had come from the shadows and had looked so pure and beautiful with her holy energy surrounding her, he had given her the name 'shadow angel'. The news had traveled like wildfire when the old man had gone and told the entire village. The village told another village and soon everyone had known about her and her telltale, unique mask that she had gotten from the Sandaime (you know the ANBU mask…).

"Kage Tenshi? Who's that?" Naruto asked. Sakura gave him a light punch to the head for his stupidity.

"Kage Tenshi is the only known person able to defeat the youkai!" she hissed at him, eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"Really? Cool!" Naruto yelled, his enthusiasm bubbling over. Kage (Kage Tenshi is too long to write, so I'm going to refer to her as Kage or K.T.) gave them a nod and jumped into the treeline, disappearing from their view. They stood their for a moment shocked before the turned and made their way back to Konoha.

_At the Hokage Tower…_

"Mission report!" Tsunade barked at them as soon as they walked through the door into her office.

"Hai, shishou." Sakura had been training under Tsunade for the past four years, learning medical techniques and physical attacks since Kagome was not here to teach her. Even if Kagome had not been here, Sakura had been practicing with her Mini Kotsu and she had gotten quite good, but it was with her chakra control that she could wield the Hiraikotsu well.

"The feudal lord was safely escorted back to the village. On the way though, we were attacked by a mob of youkai."

"YOU WERE WHAT?! WERE YOU POISONED?" Tsunade immediately yelled, searching for any injuries.

Kakashi sighed at the Hokage's behaviour. "No. Fortunately, Kage was there to 'save' us before it was too late."

The Hokage sat back onto her chair and brooded. "That will be all. You are dismissed." she said, waving her hand in a farewell/dismissal sort of way. When they were gone, she pulled out Kagome's file and looked at her picture. "Kage…Tenshi…"

_At the Gates…_

A cloaked figure walked through the huge gates of Konoha, their entire body covered by a long black cloak that ran down all the way to the floor.

"Halt!" one of the guards said, running up to her. "Who are you and what business do you have in Konoha, Hidden Village of the Leaves?" The cloak figure reached into the folds of their cloak and instantly the guards tensed, waiting for an attack but instead, after rummaging in her cloak, she drew out what looked to be an ID card.

The other guard walked up, took it and eyed it with suspicion, but after looking at the name, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Oi! Sawada! What's wrong?" the other guard asked, narrowing his eyes at the cloaked figure.

"I-I-I-It's H-H-H-Higurashi." Sawada stuttered. The other guard's eyes widened as well and he stared at the cloaked figure in curiosity.

"Higurashi as in, _the __**Kagome Higurashi**_?!" the other guard nodded dumbly. Kagome walked up and plucked her ID out of his hands and then continued into town as if nothing had happened.

"She's back…The others will be shocked…" the guards said, smirking. Inside their heads they were imagining the mischief they could cause and the looks on the other peoples' faces. MWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH!

Kagome walked through the town in the shadows, making sure that no one noticed her. In mere minutes, she was in the Hokage Tower. "Tsunade-sama. It is nice to see you again."

The Hokage stiffened and jumped up from her sake-induced sleep, leaping straight for Kagome. She landed in front of her and pulled down her hood, inspecting her closely. "You really are Kagome!" she said, giving up on her prodding. Kagome rubbed her sore cheeks and gave Tsunade a small smile.

"I'm home." she said, giving Tsunade a smirk and a raised eyebrow at the inspection.

"Sorry," she apologized, looking at Kagome's now-red cheeks. "just had to make sure that was really you." Tsunade went back to her desk and sat in the big chair, her face taking on a playful smirk of mischief. "So, how have you been these years, Higurashi? Heard you made quite a name for yourself…_**Kage Tenshi**_."

Kagome raised both eyebrows and smirked as well. "I had no idea word had reached so far, although from what I heard yesterday from Sakura and Kakashi-sensei, I should have guessed as much."

"Of course word will travel fast! Kage Tenshi is, after all, the only person who can cure miasma and kill millions of youkai without even getting a scratch." Tsunade said. "Everyone will be so happy you're back." Kagome grimaced.

"Yeah. Sure. Happy." she said sarcastically. "I seriously doubt they're going to be happy to see someone who abandoned them years ago."

"Don't worry yourself about that. They understand." Tsunade said, holding up her hand for silence when it looked like Kagome was about to interrupt. "I said, don't worry about it. Besides, Hinata and Naruto have been coming almost daily to see if you were back." There were noises downstairs and Tsunade smiled inwardly. "And if they are following that schedule, they should be up in 5...4...3...2...1."

"BAA-CHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!" Naruto shouted kicking down the door once again.

"NOT AGAIN!! My door!!" she sobbed, mourning the loss of yet another good door.

"Hello, Hokage-sama." Hinata greeted quietly, walking in behind Naruto.

"We're just here for our daily check-up!" Naruto said, surprisingly chipper when he was asking for a person he had not seen in four years. Tsunade smirked.

"Well, I have a pleasant surprise for you." she said, smirking even wider.

Naruto and Hinata looked puzzled. Tsunade gestured them to turn around to the direction where the broken door was and standing next to it was Kagome. Naruto's eyes widened and he circled around her, inspecting Kagome. Hinata just stood there with a small smile.

"KAGOME!!" Naruto yelled, jumping and hugging her once he figured out it really was her. "YOU'RE BACK!!"

"How are you, Higurashi-san?" Hinata asked quietly, giving her a bright smile.

"I am fine, and please, like I said four years ago, call me Kagome!" Kagome said, shaking her head at the formality.

Naruto bounced up and down, the others following him with their eyes. "Everyone will be so happy to see you! Come, on!" he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her out the office. Before she left though, she swore she saw Tsunade mouth the words 'I told you so'.

Before Kagome left the Tower, she made sure that her hood was up and then left out the doors. "Oh, Sasuke and Sakura will be so happy you're back, plus Kakashi-sensei and Ino and Chouji and Shikamaru and-"

"Um…Naruto? I think I should go to my house to sleep for a bit before I go anywhere. I'm a little tired." Kagome said quietly, chuckling at Naruto's embarrassed face.

"Sure! I'll just go around town and tell everyone you're back. See ya!" Naruto yelled and dragged Hinata away with him. It didn't look like she was protesting though. In fact…she looked kind of happy…

'_Great. A mob will show up outside my house. Or worse…they might ambush me and take me in for questioning…' _Kagome thought, shivering. She wasn't tired at all.

The reason Kagome had lied about going home was because she had felt the presence of a certain couple of people from a certain organization. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Deidara and Sasori. Each one had their own special talents.

Uchiha Itachi was a Sharingan user, master and expert of that particular Uchiha bloodline/Kekkai Genkai.

Hoshigaki Kisame was a master of water techniques and could create his own lake if he wanted to and there was no water around. He had a sword named Samehada, and it stole chakra and 'shaved'.

Deidara was a bomber and an exiled ninja from Iwagakure. He specialized in any type of bomb but he mostly used a particular type of clay bomb material that he would mould using the two mouths on his palms.

Sasori. He is a master puppeteer and has even gone so far as to turn his own body into a puppet. Normally he hid his puppet body inside of yet another puppet and his true puppet form was very rarely seen. Sasori's life force is in a container that is placed in the place where his heart used to be.

Kagome shook her head from all these facts. They would do her no good in battle. The only thing she could rely on was her own strength out there. Not some dumb facts on paper. She let herself be engulfed by a swirl of water and when it finally dropped, she was now dressed in her signature ANBU mask she had gotten from the Sandaime a couple years ago. Her ebony hair was in a long braid and she kept the black cloak she had on. What were the chances of someone recognizing her? Close to none.

She ran towards where the four were, about to infiltrate Konoha in disguises. Kagome appeared in front of them and took out her two katanas, striking out with the one that had flames engulfing it. The closest ones jumped back quickly while the farther ones watched it pass with ill-veiled interest.

"Who's this, yeah?" Deidara asked, grinning about the fact that he finally got some action. He was disguised with short, spiky black hair and a fake Hidden Village of the Mist hitai-ate, and he kept his brilliant blue eyes the same.

"An ANBU from Konoha probably." Kisame snorted, hefting his Samehada over his shoulder before swinging it at Kagome with lightning-fast movements. Unfortunately for him, Kagome knew he was going to do this and merely snorted, disappearing from view.

Kisame's eyes widened and he whipped his head back and forth, looking for the 'ANBU'. Kagome appeared behind Sasori, who flicked his tail out to meet her. She grabbed it with a bored look and didn't even flinch as her skin was cut and poison was injected into her bloodstream.

"Do you feel yourself getting warm and dizzy?" he asked in a gravely voice. Kagome rolled her eyes behind the mask and a purple glow surrounded her hand, healing it and the poison injected. Sasori's eyes widened and he felt his outer puppet being shattered. He turned around to look and Kagome was there, holding a huge piece of his wooden puppet. He jumped out of his outer puppet and faced her in his body puppet, his red hair vibrant in the sun.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her and then a look of realization flitted across his face. "Kage Tenshi."

"Are you serious, yeah?" Deidara asked him, his eyes wide. "I never thought that the angel would be so….small."

Kagome was a bit pissed off. She attacked them viciously with her katanas, not pausing even when she received injuries. Soon enough, Kisame's and Deidara's faces were grim and the only thing they concentrated on was her attacks. They had even stopped throwing insults at her.

"Damn it!" Deidara growled as another one of his bombs was deflected on a purple barrier. Kisame just grunted as he missed time and time again with his Samehada. Itachi tried to get up and close to her, using the Mangekyo Sharingan, but it seemed to have no effect on her.

"Why doesn't it affect you?!" Itachi hissed, frustrated.

"Is it supposed to?" she asked smirking. He narrowed his blood-red eyes at her, but stood silent. _'How interesting…this 'Kage Tenshi'.'_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six:

_**Recap:**_

_Itachi tried to get up and close to her, using the Mangekyo Sharingan, but it seemed to have no effect on her._

"_Why doesn__'__t it affect you?!__"__ Itachi hissed, frustrated. _

"_Is it supposed to?__"__ she asked smirking. He narrowed his blood-red eyes at her, but stood silent. __'__How interesting__…__this __'__Kage Tenshi__'__.__'_

_**End Recap**_

Itachi smirked when she finally fell to his Sharingan. Or so he thought. Before he even realized that it wasn't working on her, Kagome was already in front of him katana ready to strike him. Kagome thrust forward the ice katana and succeeded in only tearing Itachi's cloak a bit. He grabbed her wrists in a vice-like grip and stared her down with his Sharingan eyes.

Kagome used her leg to kick him hard in the midriff, sending him through a couple trees. She stayed her ground as Sasori, Deidara and Kisame all advanced toward her, their various weapons glinting.

_In the middle of Konoha somewhere…_

"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!" Naruto shouted, running and jumping from practically nowhere.

Sakura was quick to punch him on his head. Right now, she was at a training session with Kiba, Shino, Ino and Neji. "What the hell do you want?!" she yelled at him, her heart still jumping in fright from his sudden appearance.

Naruto just sat there with a goofy smile on his face. "Guess what? KAGOME'S BACK!!" Everyone stared at him with wide eyes and jaws dropped in shock.

"Are you serious?! Then let's go!" Kiba shouted, bounding after an enthusiastic Naruto with Akamaru close behind. Hinata collapsed on the ground, trying to catch her breath from all the running she had done all day. Sakura and Ino went into 'medic mode' and examined her for any injuries or anything. Satisfied that she was fine, Sakura rolled her eyes and followed the other guys out of the training grounds and Ino stayed behind to help Hinata get up. Then they followed as well.

When Sakura finally reached where the boys were, they were staring at something with dropped jaws and wide eyes. Sakura's face twisted in confusion and she walked over to where they were and looked at what they were looking at. When she saw what they were so focussed on, her jaw dropped too.

_Kagome…_

Kagome cursed inwardly as she avoided another slash from Samehada and backflipped away. She was semi-aware of the people on the other side of the clearing, but she quickly dismissed them from her mind. Now wasn't the time. Especially when she had four very dangerous, very STRONG ninjas who wouldn't hesitate to kill you.

"What's wrong, 'angel'? Feeling a bit tired, yeah?" Deidara taunted, using her sluggishness from tired muscles to its full extent. Kagome gave a low growl and spun around to attack him with a couple chakra enhanced kunai and shuriken. She was pleasantly surprised when he gave a yelp, signalling that he was hit by a couple of them. Itachi quickly ran up and attack with a kunai, his hands moving so fast, they blurred.

Kagome deftly blocked all of his hits. Then he did something unexpected. Faking a kick to her leg, he pushed his arm forward, reached for her forehead and….pulled her mask down a bit.

The only thing he saw was stormy blue eyes and shiny ebony hair before Kagome jumped away from him and pulled her mask back up. (Fortunately for her, Sakura, Kiba, Naruto, Neji and the other Konoha ninjas were too far away to see anything.) Itachi smirked that annoying smirk (you know the ones that make you pissed off because it's like they know something that you don't…) and disappeared, reappearing behind Kagome who stiffened and whirled around with a kunai.

"So…" he purred into her ear, "the Kage is a girl…I never imagined that she would be…" He wrapped his arms around her, effectively trapping her against his chest. Kagome growled and elbowed him, hard. The shock of the hit coursed through him and he loosened his grip for a second giving Kagome enough time to get away.

Kagome jumped straight into Deidara and collapsed on top of him. _'Today is just really not my day…'_ she thought, sighing before getting up. Deidara sprang up and practically yelled, "YOU'RE A GIRL?!"

'…_Damn. This really is the worst day ever.'_ Kagome thought, sighing once again and glaring a hole through him. Gasps were heard from the Konoha-nins but I ignore them, trying to clamp down on my ever-growing irritation.

"Is that a problem?" she asked them icily. Without waiting for them to answer, she spun around with her katana at the stunned Kisame, who had no time to block. Luckily for him, Sasori's steel tail thing blocked her attack and she leapt away. She went straight for the gaping Deidara, but before she could get a cut in, Itachi intercepted her and said to his teammates, "Fall back."

"What?? But-" Kisame started, outraged that he was cutting short the first real fight he had in a long time.

"Now." Itachi's tone left no room for argument. That is, assuming that you wanted to keep all your most…um…'precious' limbs. Kisame, Sasori and Deidara quickly retreated, melting into the shadows with Itachi. Before he fully disappeared though, Itachi sent a look of lust accompanied by a smirk to Kagome. She reared back in disgust.

Meanwhile, Naruto and the others were gaping on the other side of the field. "That was…totally awesome! You are so strong!" He thought he was talking to Kage Tenshi. How naïve.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at the praise, but she nodded and jumped into the forest before any of them could say anything else and ran away, leaving them all hanging.

"Well, that was certainly…interesting." Kiba said dryly. Then he remembered the reason that they were even out there in the first place. "Where's Kagome anyway?"

Naruto gulped and turned to them, grinning sheepishly. "I don't know."

Silence.

"What do you mean you don't know?! Where were we going then!?" Kiba yelled, causing a pained yelp from Akamaru, who was trying to cover his ears.

"Um…I don't know." They all fell over at his statement.

"Hey, since Kagome's back, maybe we should throw a party for her or something…" Ino suggested, looking at Sakura and plotting deviously.

Sakura smirked back and Ino and her exchanged looks that made the guys all shiver.

"Something tells me that whatever they're planning, I don't wanna know…" Kiba said, shivering worse. The rest of the guys voiced their agreements through shaking nods of the head and they all backed away from the girls slowly, who were now laughing insanely and maniacally.

The whispers they heard did not help to ease their fears. "And then we'll ambush her…uh-huh…yep…and the blue one….exactly!" the agreed at the same time, giggling and plotting some more. The boys couldn't take it anymore and ran out of there, kicking up dust.

_Naruto, Kiba, Shino and Neji…_

"That was so creepy…" Naruto said, shivering.

"I agree." Kiba said, shivering again. Neji and Shino looked calm and unruffled but if you looked closely, you would see their eyes twitching. They spotted a cloaked figure walking out in front of them and Naruto narrowed his eyes at the person before he remembered who it was.

"Kagome! Wait up!" The other's eyes widened and they ran after him. The figure turned around but all they saw was her hands. Her face was hidden within the shadows of her cloak. She raised her hand in greeting.

"Naruto-" she was abruptly cut off by a strong gust of wind that pulled her hood down. The guys gaped.

Her ebony hair was up in a high ponytail, the onyx strands cascading down her back in a straight style. Her blue stormy eyes stood out against her pale face, which was not a sickly pale, but a healthy pale. Her small nose suited her full lips, and the pale skin of her neck was flawless.

Needless to say, this was why she kept her hood up. So no one would stare at her. Kagome quickly and fluidly pulled the hood back up, unknowingly giving back to the boy's ability to breathe again.

"Kagome!" Sakura called, finally entering the clearing with Ino. "At least, I think that's you…could you pull down your hood?" When she asked this, all the guys inched just a tiny bit closer to Kagome, eager to see her face again, but they were sorely disappointed when she shook her head 'no'.

"Why nottttttttt??" Ino whined, helping Hinata who was brushing her long hair out of her face.

Kagome raised a hand and pointed at the guy's group, Kiba, Neji and Shino still staring unmoving at her with shock. Ino and Sakura both turned too each other and went 'ohhhhhhhhhhhh' before turning back to Kagome with matching Cheshire grins.

"Sooooooooo, Kagome, since you just came back, why don't we throw a party for you or something?" Kagome was about to refuse (violently) but then the only thing she couldn't resist happened. They gave her full on kicked puppy-dog looks, complete with quivering lips, huge saucer-like eyes brimming with tears and the hands clasped together.

No matter how much she tried, Kagome could not resist the awesome might of the puppy-dog look and gave in eventually. Not without cursing under her breath a few times though. Suddenly, an ANBU appeared and motioned for Kagome to step closer to him.

"Hokage-sama has requested your presence at the Tower." Kagome nodded and transported with him to the Hokage Tower. Sakura and Ino were left there, muttering death curses to the ANBU who had dared to interrupt them while they were putting their plan into motion.

_At the Tower…_

When Kagome reached the main room where the Hokage was, she saw that Sasuke and Tenten were already in the room before her.

"Who are you?" Tenten asked, on the defensive. Since Kagome had her hood up, you couldn't see her face and they didn't know who she was.

"Tenten." Tsunade's voice commanded attention. "How could you not recognize Kagome here?" her voice had turned playful, and the looks on the two faces of Sasuke and Tenten was more than enough entertainment for the day.

"K-K-K-Kagome?" Tenten stuttered out, looking at the cloaked figure with impossibly wide eyes. Sasuke didn't comment but you could see that he had widened eyes also.

"Well, getting straight to business, I have heard that there may be an attack at Suna for the sand jinchuuriki."

"On Gaara?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Yes. I want you three to be sent first in case of any sneak attacks. I will send Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi later as backup. You must get ready and meet at the gates before sunset, then you move out." Tsunade said, clasping her hands under her chin. "Dismissed." The three ninjas that had been there transported to their homes in Konoha to prepare for the mission.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

_**Recap:**_

"_Well, getting straight to business, I have heard that there may be an attack at Suna for the sand jinchuuriki."_

"_On Gaara?" Sasuke asked quietly._

"_Yes. I want you three to be sent first in case of any sneak attacks. I will send Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi later as backup. You must get ready and meet at the gates before sunset, then you move out." Tsunade said, clasping her hands under her chin. "Dismissed." The three ninjas that had been there transported to their homes in Konoha to prepare for the mission. _

_**End Recap**_

In the Kazekage's office, Gaara was doing his paperwork when a large, pure white bird soared through the skies silently. He furrowed his brows and used his sand to transport to the top of the building, intent on waiting for the intruder. He did not have to wait long for the intruder; one of the Akatsuki soared down on the bird's back not a moment later.

"How did you get here so fast, yeah?" Deidara asked Gaara, a smirk playing on his lips. The hot desert wind wrapped around them, whipping around their hair and clothes while the two faced off.

"Birds like that do not exist in the desert." Gaara said monotonously. The sand from his gourd started to leak out and spiral around him. At Gaara's signal, it went straight for Deidara who jumped onto his bird and circled in the skies, avoiding the sharp, spear-like points of the hardened sand that followed him up. Gaara hovered in the air on a platform of sand, Deidara throwing bombs of clay at him and detonating them with his chakra.

_Meanwhile..._

Kagome, Sasuke and Tenten traveled non-stop at top speed to Suna as per Kagome's request. Halfway through their well-deserved rest, Kagome had leapt up and jumped to the trees, a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach driving her. The other two had quickly followed her, demanding an explanation.

"Suna is in trouble. I can feel it." was her answer, the look on her face enough for them to not question her. It was a mixture of dread, panic and terror that sent shivers up their spines. To Kagome, she could literally feel the distress in the air that the wind carried to her. It was bone chilling, the anguish in the air and it made her want to puke. Kagome could literally feel the people's silent screams as they were mercilessly killed. Kagome and the other two arrived at Suna's border and Tenten gasped.

The guards were all dead, their eyes open but unseeing and their limbs twisted into gruesome positions. Sasuke surveyed the damage and saw that there was only one man left alive. As soon as he got close to the man, a bomb went off and he too was killed, and Sasuke was burned a bit on his arms and legs. Kagome quickly ran past Sasuke into the village, encasing Sasuke in a bubble of purple healing energy before speeding off to help the Kazekage (Gaara).

Tenten quickly followed her and left Sasuke alone to heal.

_With Gaara and Deidara..._

Gaara was battered and out of energy, but when he saw the huge bomb dropping onto the village, Gaara summoned the last of his sand and chakra, moulding new sand to envelop the bomb and shield the village from any danger. When the bomb exploded, none of the blast touched Suna and Gaara used the very last of his energy to move the sand off the top of Suna and to the ravine outside of gates.

The citizens cheered, but it was quickly turned to gasping when they saw him fall out of the sky, the sand o longer able to support him due to the lack of chakra he possessed to manipulate it.

Deidara saw his chance and made his bird fly to Gaara and open its mouth wide to catch and swallow him. Just before he could though, a blur caught the Kazekage and another coloured blur jumped past and threw some kunai and scythes at Deidara who was forced to swerve out of the way.

"Kazekage-sama. Kazekage-sama. Are you okay?" Kagome asked, carefully setting him down next to Kankurou and enveloping him in another bubble of her healing energy. His injuries were not very life-threatening, and it did not take long for him to be fully healed. All that was left was for him to wake up and replenish his chakra stores through rest.

"Thank you." Kankurou said to Kagome. He did not know who she was because she was still wearing the damn cloak. Kagome quickly removed said cloak and ignored the wide-eyed stares of everyone, choosing to pull out her katanas instead. Kagome quickly summoned a disk of her white chakra and stepped onto it, using it like Kagura would use her feather, or Sesshomaru would use his demonic youki.

She flew up to where Tenten was on Deidara's bird, using taijutsu to try and injure him. One particular explosion from his exploding clay on her shoulder made Tenten give a sharp cry, lose her balance and fall off the bird towards the ground. Kagome caught her with another one of her chakra disks and gently set her down next to the Kazekage where Kagome put her in a healing bubble which would repair her shoulder.

Turning to the grinning Deidara, she gave him an icy look and set her katanas ablaze.

"Your friend wasn't a good work of art, yeah." Kagome narrowed her eyes further and then attacked him with a fiery katana. He dodged, and wrenched it right out of her hands, tossing it to the ground below where it barely missed a civilian. She used her other one to attack, clutching it harder so it could not be wrenched out of her hands again. She created another katana using her chakra so she would not be unbalanced.

Sasuke arrived moments later after Kagome started to fight to see her attacking Deidara alone while the Kazekage and Tenten were lying on a building top, one in pain and one unconscious. Sasuke leapt into the air, and tried to attack Deidara with his sword, only to be stopped by his partner, Sasori.

The metal spine on his outer puppet was stopped by Sasuke's sword and the quickly started to exchange attacks, Sasori ejecting large amounts of needles that were poisoned while Sasuke dodged and attacks with jutsus.

"**Fire Element: **_**Phoenix Fire!**_" Short bursts of fire were repelled by Sasori's metal spine.

_Meanwhile..._

Kagome was having a tiny bit of trouble due to the fact that more Akatsuki members had shown up and decided that it would be fun to gang up on her.

"What's the matter, girly? Tired already?" Kisame taunted.

"Shut up, you fucking fish-face." Kagome growled, dodging multiple attacks and cursing more and more colourfully.

"Language, language. Shouldn't ladies speak more prim and proper, yeah?" Deidara said, mocking her by using a super high-pitched voice. Kagome retaliated by punching him straight in the face and knocking off his perch on the clay bird. The bird quickly swooped down and caught him before he could fall to a very painful and bloody death.

"I'm starting to like this girl." Kisame said, giving a snicker at Deidara's shocked and outraged face.

"She-she punched me!" Deidara said, clearly outraged.

"No shit, dipwad." Kisame said, rolling his eyes. Deidara growled and launched himself at Kisame, but before he could land some serious injuries on him, Itachi intervened.

"Cease bickering like children and hurry up and fight her!" he bit out at them, concentrated on dodging her kicks with had chakra flaring on them. One hit could be fatal. Deidara and Kisame quickly jumped back into the fight, using explosive, water-based and fire-based attacks to try and overpower her. Kagome tried to block all of them, but only managed to get a nasty wound stretching from her left shoulder to her right hip.

"Aw, did we hurt the widdle baby?" Kisame taunted, a malicious grin marring his blue face. That's when Kagome snapped. She unclasped the Hiraikotsu charm from the chain that hung around her hip and enlarged it.

"Holy shit! That's a huge fuckin' weapon!" Deidara exclaimed, so shocked that he didn't even us the word 'yeah'. Kagome swung it at his bird, and it missed hi, hitting and severing the bird's wing. Its path continued on until it hit Kisame in the midriff, succeeding in winding him and sending him flying backwards a couple feet. Kagome caught it with one hand and gave them an evil grin.

This grin made even Itachi shudder, and she used her disk to fly into the air and swing her Hiraikotsu at them. Deidara quickly made another huge bird out of his clay and everyone jumped onto it, soaring into the sky and to even ground with Kagome' chakra disk.

"Sasori-danna! Where are you?" Deidara shouted, avoiding the extremely strong, heavy and _**fast**_ boomerang.

"Right here. That cursed kid kept me busy." The puppet master said from the ground.

"Ah, you mean that Sasuke brat?" Deidara asked him, smirking. "I'm guessing you left him poisoned and in a pool of his own blood." Kagome quickly made a clone of herself to keep them busy and leapt off the disk and to the sand. She quickly took off running and saw that Sasuke was indeed severely injured and was tossing on the ground, beads of sweat breaking out on his brow.

Kagome knelt down next to him and used her miko energy to do a quick analysis on how bad the poison was. _'It has reached his main bloodstream and is nearing his heart.' _Without missing a beat, Kagome inserted her energy into him and started to purify the poison. It was attacking all of his vital organs, so she needed to be extra careful that she did not cause harm to them with her purifying power and only purify the deadly toxic.

While she was concentrating on this, she was distracted so she accidentally let her guard down. It was at this time that Itachi unfortunately decided to try and attack her, and his kunai went straight through her back and out the other side of her stomach. Kagome used the last of her miko energy to purify all the poison in Sasuke's system before she ripped the kunai out, stabbed Itachi near the heart with it and fell unconscious.

The last thing she saw was sand moving silently and wrapping around Itachi's ankles, and blue-green eyes peering into hers.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

_**Recap:**_

_The last thing she saw was sand moving silently and wrapping around Itachi's ankles, and blue-green eyes peering into hers. _

_**End Recap**_

The first thing Kagome noticed when she came out of her deep sleep, was the blinding bright white lights and the silence. It was like a suffocating cloak around her, cold and unbearable.

'_Ugh…what happened?'_ she thought, groaning inwardly. Then she remembered how Itachi had stabbed her in the back and something…or rather some_**one **_had saved her. Kagome quickly twisted around to looks at the extent of the injuries on her back and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was only a faint scar remaining. At least her miko energy was working properly.

Kagome slid from the edge of the bed and walked quietly across the cold floor, stopping only to put on her old clothes and discard the hospital gown. Then she proceeded to open the door leading out of the too-white solitary hospital room. As soon as she got out, she heard voices coming from down the hallway and she stalked down it, careful and alert. What sight met her eyes almost made her burst out laughing and make her reveal her hiding place.

Naruto was being forcibly restrained by Sakura from going to her hospital room. He was on the floor with his hands tied behind his back while Sakura's feet was on his head so he couldn't get up. Sasuke and Tenten watched with mild amusement, taking no part in it but not helping Naruto either.

"B-but Sakura-chan, Kagome's in the hospital again! Someone should be with her when she wakes up!" Naruto protested weakly, his voice muffled due to the fact that his face was squashed to the ground.

"You leave her so she can rest! She nearly died because she was injured while she had so little chakra!" Sakura said, grinding her foot down. Kagome decided to make her grand appearance at this time.

"Kagome!" the simultaneous cries were heard a throughout the room. Naruto jumped up and glomped Kagome, knocking over Sakura in the process. An angry tick mark appeared on her forehead and she quickly gave Naruto a swift punch on the head for doing that.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttttttooooooooooo!!" she growled, jumping up and chasing after him while he frantically apologized. While they were doing this, Tenten came over to Kagome and bowed to her before straightening up with a small smile.

"Thank you for saving my life, Kagome-san."

"It was nothing, really. I was just glad that no one was seriously hurt in the fight." Kagome said, waving off the thanks. "And please call me Kagome, you do not have to use the formalities." Tenten grinned at this and bounced over to Sasuke, dragging him over to Kagome as well.

"Sasuke has something to say to you!" she said in a sing-song voice. Kagome raised an eyebrow at his obvious discomfort. He mumbled something that Kagome couldn't hear and Tenten knocked him over the head and glared at him hissing, "Say it louder, moron!" Sasuke gave her a very icy glare and turned away from Kagome intense gaze, a tinge of red across his cheeks.

"Thank you for healing me." he said, not sounding very thankful. Kagome just gave him an almost non-existent smile that caused his blush to deepen (though not out of embarrassment anymore!) and him to walk away, grumbling under his breath about infuriating females.

"Yo, Higurashi Kagome!" All of the room's occupants turned towards the speaker and saw Temari, Kankurou and Gaara standing in the doorway. Temari stalked over to the slender kunoichi and narrowed her eyes at her, inspecting her from head to toe. Then cat-like grin broke out on her face and she turned to her little brother. "Good choice, little bro! I approve!"

Now there were knowing smirks in the direction of the Kazekage, who just glared at them so heatedly they could not hold the glare for fear that they would combust into flames. It was true that Kagome was a good pick, after all she was strong, smart and most of all-_beautiful._ Kankurou looked down at his brother with a fox-like grin and slapped him on the back, snickering. Everyone except Kagome, who still didn't know what the hell was going on, snickered along with them. Gaara's sand slowly slid out from the gourd on his back the spiral menacingly around everyone, a threat hanging in the air.

Immediately everyone quieted. Sakura broke the dangerous silence with a cough. "So, Kazekage-sama, Kankurou and Temari, how would you like to come to Konoha for a vacation?" she asked them, her eyes conveying a look of mischief to Temari who caught it and gave a raised eyebrow in return. Sakura walked to her and whispered something in her ear, to which Temari nodded, a huge grin spreading on her face.

"Alright then! To Konoha we go, come on guys." Temari said matter-of-factly to her two brothers who were now compelled to go along. They looked at each other and Kankurou shrugged. Temari bounded over to her brothers and whispered in Kankurou's ear first. A dreamy look came over his face and he started to turn red. Then Temari whispered the same thing to Gaara, who turned a very very VERY soft pink and whipped his head around, walking calmly outside and presumably to the Kazekage Tower to finish up some work.

"What was that all about?" Tenten asked Sakura who just grinned evilly and whispered something in her ears too. Tenten's eyes widened but then turned normal and she too grinned evilly. They both turned to look at Kagome with matching Cheshire grins and she shuddered, making a mental note to be careful around them.

"Why don't we set out for Konoha now?" Naruto asked, a bit creeped out by all the evil grinning. To this, Sakura and Tenten grinned even wider and nodded enthusiastically, walking out the room while muttering to each other. Kagome, Sasuke and Naruto distinctly heard the word 'ambush' and they all shivered.

They retrieved Kankurou, Temari and Gaara after they had finished preparing for the trip and set out for the Hidden Village in the Leaves.

_A couple hours later…_

Kagome had put on her cloak moments before they had reached the gate, receiving some odd stares.

"Um…Kagome?" Sakura started tentatively. "Why do you always wear a cloak?"

"I constantly wore it these four years, so it has become like a habit." Kagome said softly, not bothering to use chakra on her feet as she leapt through the dense foliage on tree branches. The looming gates of Konoha appeared just over the horizon and they quickened their paces subconsciously. It took only a few minutes to reach the intimidating doorway and they passed through, the guard immediately recognizing the Kazekage of Suna and his siblings.

Sakura, Tenten and Temari quickly sped off the god-knows-where and left Gaara, Kankurou, Sasuke, Naruto and Kagome just standing there. Naruto and Sasuke promptly disappeared and Kankurou followed his nose to the nearest food stand, leaving Gaara and Kagome standing there awkwardly.

"Why don't we go to the Hokage Tower to file a report?" Kagome suggested tiredly, rubbing her sore eyes. Gaara looked at her for a second out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll do it. You go rest." Kagome was about to protest but Gaara had already turned and walked away in the general direction on the Tower. She sighed, but walked away in the opposite direction to her home in the forest where she would probably do some training before going to sleep. Either that or she would fall onto her bed and be out like a light.

'_I prefer the second option…'_ Kagome thought, yawning again. She stumbled over to her bed (still gracefully…surprising, isn't it?) and flopped onto it, her breathing deepening and her body relaxing into the warm sheets. Before Kagome could completely go to sleep, she strengthened the 50-meter barrier around her house and put a miko spell onto it making sure that she would know if anyone breached or even touched the barrier.

_The next morning…_

Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Temari smirked from the chairs they were sitting on. They were each hunched over to form a small protected group and the evil mutterings they were constantly spouting off.

"Today is the day." Sakura said, smirking evilly.

"Did you send out the letters yet?" Temari asked, remembering the thing that she forgot to do.

"Yes. They should get it before tonight." Ino said, Temari thanking her inwardly for her thoughtfulness.

"So, did you pick out the _**item**_?" Tenten asked, her mind working quickly, thinking up plans and strategies.

Sakura and Ino nodded, sharing a knowing smirk. "Oh…we did. And trust me, she'll look awesome." The four gave one last smirk before hurrying off to do their normal routines.

_Somewhere in Konoha…_

"Hey, Kagome! Wait up!" Naruto shouted, dragging along Shikamaru, Chouji and another guy she did not know. He had on an emotionless face and had black hair and very pale skin. It was like he had never been out in sunshine before.

Kagome waited patiently while Naruto forcibly dragged the three people over. "Hello." said the emotionless one.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Hello."

"Oh, right! Kagome, this is Sai. He was your replacement on our team while you were gone."

"And now that you are back I suppose you want your position back as well." Sai said, giving a completely fake smile. Kagome didn't know how, but she knew that he didn't want to give up the position on Naruto's team. It was probably his first friendship ever. And he probably would want to keep it for as long as he could. So, Kagome did the only thing she thought right.

"No." Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji and Sai looked equally surprised.

"K-Kagome-chan, what do you mean you won't come back to our team?" Naruto asked nervously.

Kagome looked at Sai, then back to Naruto. "Excuse me." she said politely, bowing and walking with slow deliberate steps away from the shocked group. Chouji and Shikamaru seemed to be recovering because before they were out of hearing and seeing range, she definitely heard Chouji munching on something and Shikamaru muttering 'how troublesome'.

Kagome had only walked for a couple steps before she saw that her path was currently being barred by the only Sand-kunoichi in the village at the moment. Temari. Temari was giving her a shark-like smile and Kagome almost started to back up but decided to reply.

"Yes? Do you need something, Temari-san?" At the honorific, Temari let her shark smile go to be replaced by incredulity.

"SAN?! Just call me Temari, okay? And could you come with me for a second? I need your help." Kagome looked at her warily but nodded and followed her. As soon as she did, she was tackled from three different directions and tried to attack the threat but was stopped by chakra strings holding her down and energy-suppressors (miko power is still a form of energy.).

Three faces were smirking down at her…

_Elsewhere in the village…_

"So, it's tonight, isn't it? Are you going?"

"Yes. I'm also making sure that the others are coming also. Whether or not I have to drag them kicking and screaming." The last sentence was said playfully but there was definitely a threatening undertone.

"Good."

_**Timeskip…**_(that night)

"Ladies and gentlemen, some not so gentle, thank you for coming to this fabulous party." Ino announced loudly into the microphone. Sakura was right there next to her.

Ino was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that had little jewels sewn into the hem and on one side of the dress, it was cut so that it stopped at mid-thigh, while the other side stopped at mid-calf. She wore dark purple heels that had a buckle on the side.

Sakura was wearing a dress that flowed from white to a deep red at the bottom, and had spaghetti straps. She had a necklace that was an emerald in the shape of a cherry blossom and light pink, crisscrossing heels.

"We have dedicated this party to our long-time friend who has just come back from a four year trip. Thank you all for coming!" Everyone, and I mean everyone, had been invited to this 'party'. Gaara, Kankurou, Neji, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Lee, Naruto and their senseis, along with Iruka and other people who they knew were waiting impatiently for the point of being here.

The guys were all dressed in tuxes and suits, some calm while others who constantly fiddling with some part of the formal clothes.

Hinata looked stunning in a strapless dress that went from lilac to a light lavender colour and stopped at mid-calf, flowing out from the waist. Her heels had criss-crossing straps and she wore a choker of diamonds.

"We're here!" A voice called, identified as Tenten called from behind the sliding door. Ino and Sakura grinned at each other.

"Thank you all for waiting. We now present Tenten of Konoha and Temari of the Sand along with our guest of honour tonight, Kagome!"

The doors slid open and everyone gasped. Temari was wearing a black dress that had strokes of red colour on it. It stopped right above the knee and she wore black high-heeled boots that went to the bottom of her dress and a necklace that consisted of a simple silver chain. It was the pendant that was special. The pendant was a pure silver spiral with a blood-red jewel in the middle of it. Simple, yet striking.

Tenten was wearing a black Chinese-styled dress with flower and birds embroidered carefully into the silk. It went to her knees, but had slits up to mid-thigh. She wore shiny black heels and had her brown hair down for once.

But it wasn't them that made the spectators gasp. It was Kagome that had just walked through the doors and into the large room.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

_**Recap:**_

_But it wasn__'__t them that made the spectators gasp. It was Kagome that had just walked through the doors and into the large room. _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome was…for lack of a better word, gorgeous. She looked ethereal in a blue, strapless dress that flowed out from her waist all the way down the her knee. Silver ink made up ivy and spiral patterns all over the dress, glowing a little in the lights. Blue heels were on her feet and had blue ribbons crisscrossing all the way up her legs. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, but her hair flowed around her like ebony silk and one simple blue ribbon was around her pale neck.

"Holy…" Kiba breathed out, Akamaru barking his agreement. The large dog bounded over to Kagome's side and proceeded to growl out his approvement.

"_You look very nice, Kagome-sama." _he barked out, his tongue lolling out. Kagome gave him a small smile and an affectionate scratch behind the ears. The other males gave the dog a jealous glare.

Ino and Sakura quickly jumped over and grabbed Kagome's arms, dragging her over to the microphone.

"Say something." Ino hissed at her playfully.

Kagome looked out at all the people and sighed. "I'm really sorry that these four girls dragged you all out here, but I want you all to enjoy yourselves, since you are all out here for my sake." The crowd gave snickers at Ino and Sakura's outraged faces, but even they started to laugh along with the others.

"Well, 'nuff said, let's dance!" Temari shouted as the band started to play a fast song. Temari grabbed Shikamaru and hauled him off to the dance floor while Sakura and Ino started to bicker over who got to dance with Sasuke. Tenten went over to Lee and asked him shyly for a dance. He quickly accepted, shouting some nonsense about "Youth" once again. Before she went onto the dance floor though, she leaned over to Neji and whispered in his ear, "Kagome's a much better match for you than me…"

He looked at her dumbfounded before looking at Kagome who was right now dancing with Kiba. Akamaru was off somewhere in a corner sulking about how he couldn't since he didn't have hands or feet, instead he had paws. Hinata was off comforting the poor dog.

Back to Kagome, soon after she had finished the first song with him, Sasuke cut in and danced a slow song with her, smirking all the time at the glaring boys behind him that were currently hoping that Ino and Sakura would come over and drag him away but they had no such luck. Ino and Sakura were still oblivious to the tiny little fact due to another tiny little fact that they were yelling at each other so loud that they didn't bother taking the 3 seconds to look around and see if the object of their interests was even there.

Kagome rolled her eyes mentally when dancing with Sasuke since the only reason he was doing it was to gloat. It was because of this knowledge that she was very relieved when Neji decided to cut in.

As soon as Sasuke stepped away from her, albeit grudgingly and not without a glare at the Hyuuga, and went over to Sakura to pull her to the dance floor, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and let Neji lead her in a semi-fast song. "Thank you." she said, still relieved.

Neji gave her a small smirk and kept her as a dance partner even for the next song, a waltz. Kagome was silent throughout the entire song and when it ended, she gave him a smile and stepped out into the cool air of the street, letting out a breath she didn't know that she had been holding.

'_Haven't been around so many people in so long…' _she thought, looking up at the sky. The Feudal Era definitely had more stars than here, but at least you could see them. In Tokyo, the pollution was so bad that all you could see was a hazy fog in the sky. AGH! '_Thinking about home is definitely something you should not do when you were stuck in a place/world you weren't supposed to be in in the first place without any familiar faces.'_ Kagome thought, wiping away a single tear that had somehow found its way down her cheek.

"Thinking of something?" a voice asked behind her. Gaara walked over to her and sat down beside her on the ground. Whoa. Kagome didn't even know when she had even gotten onto the ground.

"I was just thinking about…" she didn't know if she should tell him anything that might lead to further questioning. Well, whatever. Out of the frying pan into the fire. "…home." Gaara's eyebrow's rose, but he didn't voice anything out, choosing to let her continue.

Kagome sighed. This is why you should never tell then anything, it leads to UNWANTED questions. "I want to go back and see my family at least one more time. I wasn't able to say a proper goodbye." _'When I was practically dragged through a rip in the dimensions and transported from the Feudal Era to this weird ninja world.' _she added silently in her head. Gaara looked away from her piercing eyes and to the inky sky, lost in his own thoughts.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

"_Did you really think that I loved you? Cared for you? I __**hated **__you for taking away my beloved sister. I __**hated**__ the fact that she had to die to give birth to a monster. __**You.**__" Gaara watched as the only person to ever get close to him died by his own hands. It ripped his heart even further when she opened her jacket and he saw all the explosive tags starting to detonate. But it was the last words that she said that completely broke his soul. _

"_Please die." Unfortunately for both her and Gaara, his sand would not let him die whether he wanted it or not. It had a mind of its own, and it swirled around him, protecting him from the huge explosion and carving the symbol for 'love' on his forehead. _

_He wouldn't trust anyone. Not anymore._

_**xX End Flashback Xx**_

Funny, yet ironic. Now he had hope that he could trust people and open up to them. Thanks to Naruto. But looking at the girl beside him, he realized that no one had done that for her. No one had given her a reason to trust them. Not even a hope. He understood this when he saw Kagome's eyes mist over with broken and painful memories. Memories that she's rather keep hidden away. Just like him.

Before he knew what was happening, Gaara had leaned forward and placed his lips on her own soft ones. His and her eyes both widened, before they shut and leaned into the chaste kiss a bit more. They slowly pulled away and they met each other, eye for eye.

Kagome gave him one of her more rare smiles and looked up at the sky. Just as she looked up, a shooting star shot across the sky and she closed her eyes making a wish.

_I wish I could become happy here._

"Thanks." Kagome said.

"For what?" Gaara was confused. As far as he was concerned, he really hadn't done anything for him to be thanked. In fact, he was kinda expecting her to look at him with disgust and push him away because he had just kissed her.

"For staying with me." she said simply. They were both silent for the rest of the night, parting ways when I got too late to stay there.

_The next day…_

Ino and Sakura were both in a rare agreement for once, both on a warpath to figure out where Kagome had disappeared to in the middle of a party they had thrown in HER honour. They stopped when they saw the very girl they were looking for training with the elusive Byakugan-user. Ino and Sakura looked at each other with mischievous smirks and inched away, letting the two have their alone time.

**Kagome POV**

I felt the two raging auras of Ino and Sakura approaching me, but they got close, the auras slowly calmed, and then they left. I was puzzled, but I didn't have time to dwell on it as Neji nearly impaled me with a kunai. It landed on the ground behind me and I heard a hissing noise. I whipped around quickly and saw an explosive note attached to the handle of the kunai. I completely blanked. This hadn't happened since around 7 years ago, staying there and being helpless. The note exploded and I only had enough time to bring up my arms in a defensive stance and let the debris bruise and cut me.

**End Kagome POV**

Neji's eyes widened and he ran towards the fallen girl who just lie there, staring up at nothing. He rushed over to her side and crouched over her, shaking her shoulder urgently, but still gently.

"Kagome?! Kagome!? Are you okay?" he asked her, looking for any major injuries.

"Yeah…I'm fine." Kagome relied quietly, sitting up. Her eyes glazed over and Neji watched in morbid fascination as her body emitted a purple glow, her wounds and bruises quickly healing. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Kagome was once again unhurt, but his relief didn't last long as he saw that Kagome's eyes were still glazed over.

Memories were flashing through her mind. Memories that she supposedly had locked away a long time ago.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_Shippo biting Inuyasha on the ear. _

_Sango hitting Miroku over the head with her Hiraikotsu for his perverseness. _

_Miroku giving her wise advice, and then making her laugh by being a pervert and causing Sango to blush. _

_Inuyasha huffing and turning red whenever she gave him an affectionate hug or rubbing his ears. _

_Kirara purring sympathetically in comfort whenever she was feeling down. _

_Her mom, always welcoming her home with a smile on her face and complete understanding of her situations and her life in the Sengoku Era._

_Grandpa and him slapping his sutras on everyone's head and shouting "Demon begone!" _

_Souta and his dorky imitations of Inuyasha and his claw attacks. _

_Sesshomaru and Rin. Sesshomaru watching as Jaken was tortured by Rin, amusement clearly showing in his eyes. _

_**xX End Flashbacks Xx**_

Memories were flashing by before her eyes in a rapid pace, never breaking their pace.

That is, until Neji gave her a particularly sharp shove on her shoulder, effectively breaking her out of her trance.

"Neji? What's wrong?" Kagome asked, still a bit woozy from her very odd experience in her memories flashing by in a very broken pace.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! I have been here, kneeling and shouting your name for the last ten minutes, worried because I thought I had cause you permanent mental damage and you think that you can just say 'Neji, what's wrong?' and expect me to think you're okay-" he was suddenly cut off by Kagome pressing her own lips to his (in a moment of insanity, I might add).

Neji's eyes slid shut and they both pressed their lips together more firmly, deepening the kiss. His eyes snapped open suddenly and he realized just what he was doing and who he was doing it with. _'I…am…kissing…Kagome.' _Kagome broke off the kiss and walked away, letting him have an internal spazz attack.

The only thing Kagome was thinking as she was walking away though was, _'Gaara? Or Neji?'_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty:

_**Recap:**_

_The only thing Kagome was thinking as she was walking away though was, __'Gaara? Or Neji?'_

_**End Recap**_

Kagome jumped through the thick expanse of trees around the borders of Konoha, checking if there were any demons around with her miko energy while on patrol as Kage Tenshi. As much as she'd like to convince herself that she was doing this for the good of the village, the real reason that she was doing this was because she needed to get away from the Gaara and Neji problem.

_'I don't know who I care about more. I don't even know if I even love __**either**__ of them. I just…don't know what to do.' _

Kagome sighed. What was a girl-who was seen as emotionless, no less-to do? Besides, they were both tortured and innocent souls. Every time Kagome went near either of them, it felt like her own heart was tearing apart because of the pain they each hid. Of course, they both had different ways of coping with it. Gaara retreated into himself, choosing to only love himself and kill whoever came near him in order to satisfy his hunger for company.

Neji chose to hide behind a mask of anger, angry at himself and the rest of the world, but also lonely. Just like Gaara. Growing up, Neji had concentrated on one thing only. Getting stronger so he could prove himself worthy and stronger than the main branch of Hyuugas.

They had one thing in common: loneliness. They both dealt with it in different ways, pushing it into the deepest, darkest corners of their hearts and locking it away. And yet, their very souls were ripping apart because the loneliness gnawed away at them, day after day. Night after night. They each sought out something, or rather some_**one**_ to end their loneliness.

They were recognizing a kindred soul in Kagome because just like them, she was lonely too. Only, her loneliness was on another level because she wasn't allowed to get close to anyone. She was a miko. Born to empathize and feel what others feel. Her very nature was to comfort and befriend people. But because of Naraku and the fact that he might target any people that she got close to, Kagome was forced to spend ever moment alone. To suffer alone.

What would you do? Get close and risk their lives? Or would you isolate yourself and tear apart your heart that yearned for comfort?

What would _**you **_do?

_In the village…_

Gaara walked through the crowds in a daze, his mind wandering inwardly while only an indifferent mask showed on is outer features. He was thinking about Kagome, and why he was so drawn to her.

Loneliness. It what drew people together. People who also felt the heart-wrenching, soul-ripping pain were always drawn to each other, both broken. Both sad. Both alone.

Maybe this is why people were so dependant on each other, yet didn't want to open up their hearts and trust anyone. They had been hurt once before, and had drawn back into their own shells, afraid to come out and be hurt again. Both Gaara and Kagome had both experienced this, and both had been inside that shell for so long that they wouldn't remember how to act when they were finally out of it.

Who was to blame for all the loneliness and heart-breaking and betrayal? The evil in everyone's minds and hearts. The little voice in your head that tells you not to do it, but you do it anyway. The 'What ifs' and questions. All the pain that existed in the world was because of the evil thoughts and actions of other people.

But that still didn't explain why he felt so strongly drawn towards her. Every time he saw her, he could feel a small smile come to his lips, and his eyes would get just a little brighter. Every time she looked at him, Gaara would feel anxious and nervous and he didn't understand why.

"…Gaara….Gaara…..GAARA!!" Gaara was jolted out of his thoughts by a very loud yell coming from his brother, Kankurou. "Geez, what were you thinking about? I've been trying to get your attention for the last twenty minutes." Gaara gave him a small death glare.

"No need to get all pissy, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come with me and Temari to where all the Konoha-nins are gathering." In his mind, chibi Kankurou was doing a little rubbing the hands together thing, plotting out a little matchmaker session for Gaara and that girl-what was her name again?-Kagome.

When Gaara gave an almost non-existent sigh and nodded, chibi Kankurou did a little victory dance.

_In the forest somewhere…_

Neji concentrated and, using his Byakugan, found the positions of all the birds except one, as usual. He sighed inwardly. He started to train, using his Soft Palm technique to strike at the opposing trees. When he finished, he gave a smirk when all the trees fell in a circle around him, neatly severed at the base by his very accurate chakra technique.

He let out a snarl when he remembered the reason he had trained to become this strong in the first place. All because of his uncle and the Hyuuga Main Branch.

_**xX Flashback Xx**_

_A small boy that was around the age of five or six was running from the Cloud-nins that had invaded his home silently, looking for Hinata. _

_A pair of rough hands suddenly grabbed his arms and a kunai was held to his neck, glinting dangerously in the little moonlight that seeped through cracks in the building. A voice hissed menacingly, "Tell us where the girl is…or else you and everyone else in this building loses their lives." _

_All that he could remember about that incident after was blurred people, blood and pain. When he woke up later he realized that his captor had first beaten him to the point of death before someone from the Side Branch finally saved him. No one from the Main Branch had bothered, even when they had heard his cries. Anyone from the Side Branch wasn't important. All that was important was Hinata, and if she had any injuries or not. _

_Meanwhile, while Neji was recovering, he was pushed to the brink of death everyday by his father, who wanted some way to vent his frustrations against fate which had forced him to be born just a few minutes after his twin brother, making the older twin inherit everything wile he got nothing. The only way he felt any justice was the simple fact that Neji was much stronger than Hinata, thus he was to be pushed to be the greatest. _

_Every time he fell down, he was to be punished. No way to voice his own dreams, he was constantly supressed from doing anything that __**he **__wanted to do. Being physically punished for disobedience made him grow up to the Neji he was. There was no room for failures._

_No room for __**him**__ in this world._

_**xXEnd FlashbackXx**_

His temper rising at the unbidden memories, Neji slammed his fist against the tree venting out all his frustrations. He had never been given a choice. Not even after his father had been killed.

Neji was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of a distant crashing. Quickly, he ran towards the noise and reached the clearing where a particularly huge and nasty-looking demon was fighting the elusive ninja they called 'Kage Tenshi'. Shadow Angel. He always used to wonder why they called the fighter that, but watching her fight, he saw why. Her movements were fluid, graceful and it made her almost seem like she was flying. She drifted in and out of shadows naturally, as if she were a part of them, and them of her.

He watched as she did a clean backflip, then drew a bow, nocking three arrows. All at once, she let go of the string and then the arrows soared towards the demon, glowing purple surrounding it.

_'Looks familiar…'_ Neji thought to himself, narrowing his eyes at the unusual colour. Then the figure sighed and straightened up, the three arrows reappearing magically in her outstretched hand. Suddenly, Kage whipped around, facing the exact tree where Neji was currently hiding behind.

"Hyuuga Neji…" Kage muttered out, much to the surprise of Neji, who stepped out from behind the tree when he heard his name.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know me?"

"I can feel it. Your pain. It is to a degree that is only like three others." Kage Tenshi said, instead of explaining how she knew him.

"Who?" he asked, his curiousity peaked.

"The Sand and Leaf jinchuuriki." Without another word, Kage leapt away and left Neji to ponder what she meant by "pain to a degree only like three others". Someone else had suffered just as much as he had, and they were Gaara and Naruto.

Gaara he knew had suffered, but Naruto was a whole different story. But looking back at it, he should have known Naruto was suffering.

He had grown up being labeled a monster and being beaten for it. Neji knew because, his family also shunned him. He had never understood the looks of venom that his family looked at Naruto with when he was small, but as he grew older, he understood. Naruto had grown up isolated, but when Neji had been smaller his father always was there for him.

What was worse? Growing up alone and shunned? Or growing up happy and then being forcibly ripped from your reality to the real one?

You decide.


	31. Chapter 31

Before you start reading the chapter, you NEED to read this. I am not going to be taking votes for which pair, simply for the reason that I know how I am going to end this. There will be two alternate endings, and **MAYBE** a third and fourth where she ends up with Gaara in one and Neji in the other.

Chapter Thirty-One:

_**Recap:**_

_What was worse? Growing up alone and shunned? Or growing up happy and then being forcibly ripped from your reality to the real one?_

_You decide. _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome was rudely jolted out of her deep sleep when she felt a strong, dominating and most of all-**evil **presence heading for Konoha. Quickly, she pulled her hair up in a ponytail and grabbed her katanas, strapping them to her back and then racing out the door, pulling her cloak around her.

Kagome ran non-stop to the village gates, the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach growing worse. Sure enough, when she got to the gates, there was a lone figure standing in front of two slaughtered guards. The figure turned towards Kagome and her eyes narrowed when she recognized who it was.

Inuyasha stood at the gates of Konoha, his eyes and face blank and devoid of all emotion, while his red clothes had been replaced by black. All in all, to Kagome, he looked absolutely…pathetic. He had let himself become controlled by his "love" and the evil he once had promised to destroy. In fact, the reason he had even wanted revenge on the evil hanyou, was because Naraku had deceived both of them and killed them. How odd, that the miko he had killed was now working with him. Kagome seriously wanted to laugh at the irony of it all.

She barely noticed that assembled ninjas around her as she engaged her former crush in a battle to the death. She, like him, kept her face blank as she slashed and parried with his Tetsusaiga. Somehow, it had stayed in its transformed state.

"Kagome!" At the sharp cry, Kagome nearly stumbled, looking over her shoulder just in time to see an arrow with dark corrupted miko powers surrounding it heading straight for her heart. She jumped and it missed her by millimetres, then taking out her own bow she shot one right back in the direction it had come from all the while battling Inuyasha. She heard a distant scream and smirked, knowing that her arrow must have hit its mark. Inuyasha suddenly changed his course, letting his sword drop to his side and approaching the once-dead miko who now was back in the realm of the living.

"Hello, my reincarnation. Having fun with these little pathetic humans that call themselves ninjas?" Kikyo asked, giving Kagome a smirk while holding Inuyasha close to herself.

"They are better than you, once human, then a walking corpse made from clay and bones and then Naraku's whore. Tell me, is he the one who gave you enough demon blood to fill your body and make you alive again?" Kagome replied, her face hard and her eyes like ice.

The others watching were shocked by Kagome's harsh words and her dangerously glinting eyes. Sure, they knew she was cold sometimes, but underneath all of that, they knew she had a good heart and was always putting others before herself. They had never before seen her so ruthless.

"Such nasty words, my reincarnation. Does it still hurt that Inuyasha left you for the original?" Kikyo asked smugly. Her smirk faltered though, when Kagome simply raised an eyebrow and put on an amused look.

"That piece of trash? You can have him. He kept thinking I was you, so what's stopping him from thinking you are me?"

"He would never! Right, Inu-baby?" Inuyasha raised his head in her direction and said,

"Yes, my mistress."

Kagome snorted. "Ask him what your name is."

Kikyo rolled her eyes and put on a smirk. "What is my name?"

Inuyasha's eyes gained a confused look. "I do not understand, mistress."

"I asked for my name, you worthless half-breed!" Kikyo spat at him with venom. Inuyasha just looked at her, clueless.

"He does not know. See?" Kagome said, giving a laugh filled with dark humour. Kikyo raised her black bow, enraged and let her corrupted powers surround the arrow that was nocked on it. Kagome simply stood there. Kikyo smirked and let go of the bowstring, shouting, "I would like to see you survive this, you worthless copy!"

The arrow came closer and everyone watching couldn't move and could only watch with wide-eyes as the arrow got closer and closer to Kagome's heart. Kagome smirked and caught the arrow between two fingers, breaking it easily in half.

Kikyo hissed at her a final time and her and Inuyasha jumped away from Konoha and probably back to where Naraku was hiding. Kagome let out a sigh and let her bow drop while she used her miko powers to shrink it and clip it back onto the chain which she now wore as a necklace of sorts.

Neji's eyes narrowed at the weapon, it looked strikingly similar to Kage Tenshi's bow. The only way he could confirm his suspicions was if Kagome shot an arrow, and the same energy surrounded it. All the ninjas snapped out of their stupor and Kagome's close friends raced towards her.

"Who was that? Did you know him?" Many more questions were tossed around, before the Hokage pushed through the mob of people and grabbed Kagome's arm. She did a couple hand signs and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto doubled over in coughs, having inhaled most of the smoke while Hinata tried to help him. The three Sand-nin stood near the forest line, looking over at the group of assembled Leaf-nins. They nodded to each other before also disappearing in a puff of smoke and to the Hokage Tower where they were sure to have some questions answered about the enigma, Higurashi Kagome.

_Hokage Tower…_

"Who were they?" Tsunade asked the quiet girl. Kagome sighed in defeat and began to talk.

"That was Inuyasha, the hanyou I used to travel with, and the woman was his…deceased love, now resurrected, Kikyo." Tsunade's eyes widened. She knew of them both and how Inuyasha had betrayed Kagome for Kikyo. Her eyes hardened. The two that had caused such pain for this innocent girl didn't deserve to be living happily, and should have rotted in hell where they belonged. Especially Inuyasha, who broke her heart and trust over and over only to be forgiven because of her kindness.

There were knocks on the door and a voice called out, "Hokage-sama, the Kazekage and his siblings are out here waiting to talk with you."

"Let them in." The door opened to reveal the three siblings, who all had blank faces on.

"Hokage-sama." They all said, bowing in respect. Tsunade bowed back.

"What can I do for you, Gaara-san, Temari-san, Kankurou-san?"

"We wish to know who those people outside the village were, and why Higurashi-san seemed to know them when one of them was clearly a demon." Gaara said quietly, his eyes piercing. Tsunade sighed, and looked at Kagome who looked resigned also.

"It is fit for a Kazekage's ears, isn't it?" Tsunade asked her tiredly. Kagome pondered this for a moment before nodding.

"As long as they are trustworthy."

"What about siblings?" Kagome shook her head.

"The less people that know about the situation, the better." Kagome said, her eyes determined. Tsunade nodded her head.

"I am sorry, you two, but this is fit for Kage's ears only." (Kages are the leaders of the Hidden Villages.) The two were about to argue, but one look from Gaara shut them up and they trudged out of the office reluctantly.

Kagome took a deep breath and explained everything starting from when she was fifteen all down to her being Kage Tenshi. Gaara's eyes were wide by the time her tale had ended. There was one prominent thought in his head.

_'Kagome has suffered more than anyone has or should ever suffer.' _

He looked at Kagome, who was looking out the window and at the sky, lost in her own thoughts.

_'She…needs someone to lean on. And I intend to be that person.' _


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two:

_**Recap:**_

_He looked at Kagome, who was looking out the window and at the sky, lost in her own thoughts. _

_'She…needs someone to lean on. And I intend to be that person.' _

_**End Recap**_

Naraku smirked evilly. It was time.

_In Konoha…_

Kagome was on top of the Hokage monument, watching the clouds go by when suddenly a huge explosion rocked the very earth under Konoha. Quickly she sprang up and spread her aura out, feeling the presence of Naraku's strongest "children", Orochimaru.

Sure enough, Orochimaru was just outside of the village standing atop the King of Snakes, his summon animal. Kagome bit her finger and opened up four scrolls, spreading her blood over them before doing the necessary hand seals for the summon jutsu. Out came a phoenix of fire, a dragon of water, a wolf of air and finally a horse of earth.

Kagome got onto the dragon of water and rode it over to where Orochimaru was perched, laughing maniacally.

"So, little miko, you finally show up." He said as soon as he saw her. There were shouts coming from under her as the ninjas tried to attack Orochimaru. Kagome simply drew her bow and aimed it at Orochimaru before letting go. The arrow purified his arms right off, along with a part of his torso. He laughed.

"No matter what you do to me, master will kill you. Before he does that though, he will torture and kill all the people around you. You will watch, helpless, as everyone begs and pleads for mercy. They will all die, slowly and painfully. It's all your fault!" he said, laughing crazily even as he was purified into oblivion.

"_It is all your fault, miko…_" he said, the last of the silver dust blowing away in the wind as the phoenix, wolf and horse circled around in the air and gave Kagome a nod to say that he really was gone. She gave them a nod in return and thanked them before dismissing them.

_Meanwhile…_

The Rookie Nine and Team Gai were watching Kagome fight against Orochimaru. They were thoroughly shocked when they realized that she had killed him with only one arrow.

"Holy…"Naruto started.

"…freaking…" Ino.

"…mother…" Sakura.

"…of…" Chouji, crunching and munching on chips faster due to tension and excitement.

"…crap." Kiba finished.

"You got that right." Shikamaru muttered, not using his favourite word for once. Sai remained in silent contemplation while Sasuke glared at everything and everyone. No one could believe that Kagome was so powerful. Everyone turned wordlessly to Tsunade, who quickly tried to mutter an excuse about paperwork and run away. It did not work. Naruto, Ino, Tenten, Kiba, Akamaru, Sakura and even Neji surrounded her while the others waited for an explanation in the background.

"Um…heh heh…I don't know?" she said, all the while backing up. They all moved forwards while she moved backwards. Suddenly the situation got even worse. Kagome materialized next to her and quickly pulled out her mask, not caring about all the dropped jaws and widened eyes filled with shock.

"Akatsuki is coming. All of them." She said, her face grim with determination. She quickly took out a scroll and summoned her black coat and braided her hair.

"AGH!! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH GOME-CHAN!?" Naruto shouted at Kagome/ Kage Tenshi. The others alternated between looking at Kagome and Naruto in disbelief. Tsunade just whacked him upside the head.

"That is Kagome, you baka." Her eyebrow twitching in annoyance, no mercy for the whimpering blond cradling his head in his hands. Everyone in the group stared with wide eyes, except Neji of course, who already had had his own suspicions. Just then, the door opened to the Hokage's office and Kakashi stepped in, reading his trademark book.

"Sorry I'm late, there was a cat stuck in a tree and…" he trailed off when he realized no one was listening and were staring at a masked figure. Kage Tenshi. Suddenly, Naruto finally got it, yelling out and startling everyone in the vicinity.

"KAGOME IS KAGE TENSHI?!" He yelled out, causing Sakura to hit him over the head for scaring them.

"Shush!" she said, keeping a hand firmly over his mouth, looking back and forth between her sensei and Kagome. Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

"Ah, Kagome. I always knew something was special about you." Kakashi said, his one visible eye crinkling. Kagome stepped closer to him and motioned for him to raise his headband. He did so, albeit a bit confused and grudgingly.

Kagome placed a hand over his Sharingan eye and it turned from blazing crimson to a black. He looked at her with wide eyes. Kagome tilted her head in exasperation before explaining.

"I have just turned it from its activated state to dormant. You can access it at any given time, and turn it back to its dormant state as well." Now it was his turn to go into complete shock while Sasuke watched her with not-so-veiled interest.

"If you could do that before, why didn't you?" Tsunade grumbled. "Would've saved me from saving his ass a couple times."

"Now if I did that, my cover would've been blown, now wouldn't it, Hokage-sama?" Kagome said seriously, a hint of amusement underlying her words.

"Wait." Tsunade said, suddenly straightening. "Did you say…the AKATSUKI WERE COMING?! ALL OF THEM?!" Kagome nodded before saying a couple more words that froze her blood.

"They are here."

"THEN WHY ARE WE ALL JUST STANDING HERE?!" Tenten yelled, desperate to break the tension.

"There is no need for fighting; they seem to be coming on peaceful terms." Kagome explained, scanning the massive auras above the horizon. Truth is, they really did seem like they were coming on peaceful terms since their auras were light, not heavy and dark.

Kagome looked at Tsunade asking for permission silently. Tsunade nodded and at once, Kagome was speeding over the tops of civilian homes, towards the Akatsuki group. When she saw them, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. They were all there, supporting each other, most of them badly wounded.

Sighing mentally, she enveloped each one of them in a healing bubble and made sure that this healing bubble would not let them escape and attack her or anyone in Konoha.

"Speak. Why are you here in Konoha?" Kagome said, making sure her voice was altered so it was deeper than normal. After all, she wouldn't want the notorious Akatsuki to know her secret identity.

A man masked in shadows even while inside the glowing bubble, who Kagome presumed to be the leader, spoke. "My name is Pein, and we are here in order to ally ourselves with Konoha."

By then most of the other Akatsuki members had woken up from their unconscious state due to the constant healing and jumped to attention immediately, on alter for any attacks in the foreign terrain. One person in particular caught Kagome's attention. Well, it could have just been his choice in words.

"WHERE IN FUCKING JASHIN'S NAME ARE WE, YOU FUCKER?!" A silver-haired man yelled at Kage Tenshi.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three:

_**Recap:**_

_A man masked in shadows even while inside the glowing bubble, who Kagome presumed to be the leader, spoke. "My name is Pein, and we are here in order to ally ourselves with Konoha." _

_By then most of the other Akatsuki members had woken up from their unconscious state due to the constant healing and jumped to attention immediately, on alter for any attacks in the foreign terrain. One person in particular caught Kagome's attention. Well, it could have just been his choice in words. _

_"WHERE IN FUCKING JASHIN'S NAME ARE WE, YOU FUCKER?!!!" A silver-haired man yelled at Kage Tenshi. _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome raised an eyebrow at his rather…colourful language. "You are in Konoha. What I would like to know is why." She responded coolly, not even fazed by his offending language.

The Akatsuki leader shook his head in annoyance. They were definitely not making a good impression on their soon-to-be-allies. Or at least that's what he hoped. "We have a common enemy. We wish to assist you if you assist us."

Kagome raised an eyebrow; of course they couldn't see it behind her mask. "Oh? And who is this enemy?"

"Naraku." The effect was instantaneous. Kagome's eyes widened behind her mask and she let out a raspy snarl. The other newly awakened Akatsuki members stared at the masked figure that was letting out the most blood-chilling growl ever.

"What's up with him, yeah?" Deidara asked his partner, not recognizing her to be the girl who kicked his ass back in Suna. Of course, this was to be expected due to the fact that she was wearing her mask. Sasori sat up and didn't answer, checking himself for any more injuries. Then he turned to Kagome and stared at her.

"I know you…" he muttered, mainly to himself, but the others heard it also.

"Eh, Sasori-senpai knows this girl?" Tobi asked him in an annoyingly cheerful voice.

"Girl?" Kisame asked out loud, trying to peer more closely at Kagome. "Well I'll be. That _**is **_a girl." Kagome's eyebrow twitched angrily and she allowed her bubble to shrink just enough around Kisame so that he was uncomfortable. His breathing was also uncomfortably constricted.

Deidara and the foul-mouthed silver haired guy burst out laughing at his predicament, pounding their fists on the bubble ground in humour. "AHAHAHHAAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! Kisame's squished in a bubble!" Kagome got angrier and angrier by the second, since they were obviously not taking the fact that they were dangerous enemies against Konoha seriously.

"Yes he is…" she said slowly, and then a very threatening tone entered her voice. "…And soon you will be too if you do not start taking this meeting seriously." The darkness in her voice made them all shiver, including Pein and Itachi. Itachi then tried to get out of the bubble by trying to hypnotize Kagome by using his Sharingan.

"Bad idea, Uchiha-san." Kagome said, the bubble around him flashing and angry red before shocking him with a small current of electricity.

"Let me out of here now." He all but hissed at her.

"Let me think…no." Deidara and Kisame snickered while the Jashin-lover snickered. Itachi looked as if he was about to try and attack Kagome, but one look from their "Leader-sama" silenced him.

"I am truly sorry for our impoliteness, that one is Hidan," he said pointing to the silver-haired Jashin-lover, "that one is Kakuzu," pointing to a person counting money, "Zetsu," freaky plant-man with two sides, light and dark, "Tobi," a very…happy man who was humming to himself, "Konan," a blue-haired woman who looked like she really didn't want to be here, "and you already know Sasori, Deidara, Kisame and Itachi." Kagome nodded.

"Now that you know who we all are, would you care to tell us who you are?" Pein asked her.

"I am commonly referred to as Kage Tenshi."

"He meant who you actually are, under that fucking mask." Konan told her, her cockiness aggravating Kagome. Kagome outstretched an arm and did a very Gaara-like action. She squeezed her fist together tightly. Instantly, the bubble started to shrink and crackle with energy.

"You might consider being more courteous to your host. Especially when they've got you in a life-or-death situation." Then she turned back to Pein. "Can I have your word and that of your comrades that you will not harm anyone in this village? Then, and only then, will I tell you my identity." Pein hesitated before nodding. He looked at the other intimidatingly. They all nodded except for one blue-haired bitch. Pein glared at her and she flinched before nodding her head, albeit a bit grudgingly.

Kagome sighed, before undoing the ties of her fake ANBU mask. Her mask fell away and Deidara and Kisame gasped and leapt to their feet. "YOU!!!!!!!" Pein raised an eyebrow at their behaviour.

"I take it you know her?" They nodded furiously, but were speechless. Sasori took it upon himself to explain the situation.

"She is the Konoha-nin we told you about. The one that helped the Sand jinchuuriki escape. At the last minute." He put extra emphasis one the 'last minute' part with dark malice in his voice. He must be pissed to have his prey escape just before he won…

"Oh? Is that so?" Pein asked, an eyebrow raised at Kagome.

"Yeah, that was before your subordinate oh-so-happily stuck a knife in my back while I was turned to heal someone." Kagome said, the temperature dropping a couple degrees while she gave her best death-glare to Itachi. Her glares were just as icy as Sesshomaru's, so Itachi was no match for her in the glaring contest they were having.

Tsunade, the Sand siblings and the others FINALLY arrived at the gates and stared at the odd sight of the entire Akatsuki encased in bubbles while Kagome was glaring at a semi-scared Itachi who was still pitifully trying to glare at her.

"Ano…Kagome!" Tsunade called out to her, making her break her glare contest with Itachi. Itachi looked relieved. "What's going on?"

"I found this lot injured outside of Konoha and decided to heal them while keeping them prisoner so they couldn't try anything funny." Kagome said, talking about them as if they weren't a threat. She snapped her fingers and only the Leader, Deidara and Sasori were let out of their prisons. Kagome stared at Sasori and Deidara suspiciously.

"I only meant to let Pein out, though it seems since you have no malicious thoughts, you have been let out also…" Kagome said quietly, staring at them curiously. Deidara shrugged before plopping down on the ground ungracefully while his partner remained standing, staring at Kagome. Kagome noticed that Deidara was still injured a bit so she crouched over him and pressed a glowing hand to his cut leg and let it glow for a few seconds before she pulled away, leaving Deidara fully healed. He stared at her in shock before grinning.

"Thanks angel, yeah." Gaara and Neji gave him full-blown death glares while the other guys merely gave him glares on a lesser scale. Kakashi was growling at him for hitting on who he thought of as a daughter. Sasori saw these and quickly stepped in to save his partners life by dragging him away and depositing him next to Pein who was having a staring contest with Tsunade.

"Tsunade-shishou? Tsunade-shishou? TSUNADE!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed into her ear, causing the blond to nearly fall backwards from shock. "As I was saying, shishou, what are we to do with this supposed alliance?"

Tsunade looked all of the Akatsuki members over with a critical eye. She turned to Kagome. "Do you trust them to make this alliance?" Kagome nodded without hesitation. The Akatsuki members turned to her with wide eyes and dropped mouths.

"You would trust a band of killers and murderers?" Sasuke hissed out at her. Everyone turned to look at her, waiting for a response.

"Hypocrite." Kagome said coolly. "We are shinobi. We are tools meant for killing, and yet you condemn these men for doing something that they were raised to do." Sasuke clenched his fists.

"These _people_," he spat out the word as if it were filth. "deserve to be condemned for harming innocents and families that did not deserve to be murdered."

"Oh really? Tell me, have you never taken a mission where you were to kill a family? Have you never killed an innocent? If you cannot answer positively without telling lies, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Kagome retorted, her patience wearing thin. Sasuke lost his inner battle to his anger and rushed at her, swiftly pulling a kunai. Before he could even blink, she was in front of him with a katana to his neck.

"Do not test my patience, _**Uchiha**_. I can still purify from the inside out, due to the taint in your soul. Do not presume that just because you have personal issues with your brother, you can judge and condemn him to death. No one but God has that power." Her voice was low and filled with venom, shocking and scaring the other occupants shitless. Now, if they were scared, can you imagine how terrified Sasuke must be? Just as quickly as she had attacked, Kagome stepped back and turned back to address the Hokage.

"I trust these men. **However**, if they are seem to pose a threat against this village, I will personally make sure that they will no longer be able to reproduce, walk or use their hands ever again."

"We promise that we won't!!!!!!!" They all quickly said, terrified and nearly wetting their pants due to their intense fear.

"See? They'll behave." Kagome said, then speeding off to her house for some well deserved rest.

"Wait." Kisame's voice made everyone's attention turn to him. "What about us?" It was then the other Akatsuki members realized that they were still in the bubbles.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Kagome woke up feeling this something was amiss. Not like a horribly oh-everything-is-going-to-die-and-suffer sort of thing, more like an oh-no, I forgot something sort of feeling. Trying to remember what had happened last night, her eyes widened when she realized that she had not let the Akatsuki members out of their constrictive bubbles.

"Oh well. A few more minutes couldn't hurt them." Kagome said, shrugging before getting up and dressed. When she was finally ready to leave the house she did so in a slow pace, feeling particularly sadistic. She could just imagine them all stuck in that cramped position throughout the night. Stretching like a Cheshire cat, you can imagine her surprise and utter shock when she saw all the Akatsuki bubbles exactly fifty feet away from her house. Then a jolt of realization came when she remembered that she had put up a barrier a couple years ago.

The only question was now, how did they find her? (She's invisible while inside the barrier) Shrugging, Kagome walked out of her barrier and faced the Akatsuki members who were looking at her like they had seen a ghost.

"What?" she snapped, tired of their staring.

"Y-you appeared o-o-out of th-thin air, yeah!" Deidara stuttered.

"How did you get here?" _'And while in the bubbles?'_ Kagome asked, preferring to keep that last part to herself.

"We can walk in these barriers you formed around us." Sasori stated, answering her unasked question.

"Yeah, and by the way, can you let us out now? It was hell to try and sleep last night." Konan said sarcastically. Kagome snapped her fingers and everyone BUT Konan.

"Hey, what the hell bitch?!" Konan shouted at her, pissed off. Kagome looked at her with dead eyes, making her inwardly shudder.

"You will stay in there until you learn some manners." Kagome suddenly stiffened and ran towards Konoha, a scared and terrified expression on her face. Everyone instantly turned alert and serious, racing after her.

By the time they got there, Kagome had rounded up the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and all the senseis too, plus the Sand-siblings.

"It's time. He is approaching us." Everyone sobered up and prepared, taking their weapons out. Kagome meditated, her enlarged weapons drifting in the air around her as she honed her miko energy to its peak. Exactly an hour later, Kagome's eyes snapped open, glowing white.

"He is here." With that, a black mist rolled in around their feet, signalling the entrance of something pure evil.

"Kukukukukuku." Naraku chuckled. "Who would have thought my little miko would have gathered so many people willing to die for her pathetic self? How truly heart touching. It saddens me greatly that I have no heart to feel. How sad."

"Today, you die." Kagome growled, charging at him with glowing katanas.

"Tut tut, you need to learn patience, my dear Kagome." Naraku said, sending a huge army of lesser demons towards their little group. Kagome formed holy barriers around everyone so they wouldn't be poisoned by the miasma (but they can still by physically hurt) and swiped left and right with glowing katanas.

Every swipe she made, every demon she purified, it was taking its toll on Kagome and she slowly weakened. With one last slash, Kagome finished off the last of the lesser demons, looking around and breathing a sigh of relief when she found that everyone was not injured.

She turned her piercing eyes on Naraku. It was time. He charged at her with tentacles while she slashed at every one of them, occasionally acquiring some cuts and jagged gashes. One of the tentacles was unaccounted for and was sent right through her stomach. Right before he dealt the finishing blow to her, due to her sluggishness, someone pushed her out of the way and took the blow for her.

Kagome could only watch with wide eyes as the tentacle drew closer and closer before plunging through the heart of…

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

….Neji.

(For all of my readers, do NOT worry. Neji will not stay dead!!!!)


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five:

_**Recap: **_

_Kagome could only watch with wide eyes as the tentacle drew closer and closer before plunging through the heart of…Neji._

_**End Recap**_

Kagome could only watch in horror as Neji fell, his eyes closing and blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. She crawled towards him, horror evident in her features as she stretched out a shaking hand towards him.

"N-Neji? Neji? Please don't die! Don't leave me! Please!" Kagome screamed, tears rolling down her face as her entire body shook with disbelief and fear. This was the only thing she had ever feared: being alone, and having other die in your stead. Kagome had been ready to die, but she definitely had not expected Neji to push her out of the way and take the blow for her. It had been a coward's way out, and Kagome had nearly taken it. Now, she was pissed and Naraku was definitely going to die.

"Naraku." She growled out, gripping the handles of her katana in a death-like vice. "You have sinned. You have slaughtered the innocent and guilty alike. You have turned families and brothers and sisters against one another. You have tainted peoples' hearts with evil and madness. You will be condemned for your actions against humanity and the very essence of nature. You will _**DIE." **_With those snarled words, Kagome leapt at him with renewed vigour, fury and disgust etched into her very gaze.

Naraku cackled and shot more rounds of slimy tentacles at the little miko. "Dear me dear my, such bold words for a bird whose wings have been clipped and broken." Kagome didn't pause or hesitate, but plunged straight into the writhing mass of appendages, only to return to the ninjas' line of sight a moment later when all the tentacles were purified by the purple flames that surrounded the livid kunoichi.

Naraku simply smirked and put up his barrier. "What good will those nifty little purifying powers do if you cannot get past my indestructible barrier?" he asked, his smirk turning to a smug smile. He would watch his little miko suffer and struggle, where he would then kill her and laugh as she died.

_Her death will be slow and painful, but most of all, it would be by my hands. _Naraku thought, his eyes glinting madly and his smile widening into what could only be described as a murderer's smile. He moved forwards in a deadly embrace to Kagome as out from his chest sprouted deadly spikes.

She said nothing as she merely shifted so that they whistled harmlessly past her and stabbed a kunai right through his barrier as it was charged with her miko powers.

All the ninjas that had assembled to fight against Naraku stared at her in what could only be described as shock and awe. Kagome was fighting with everything she had passionately, instead of her normal analyzing techniques. That just proved how much and how deeply Neji's death had affected her. While they still were unclear on whether or not she cared for him as a comrade or…more, they knew that Kagome took death very seriously and personally. She blamed herself for everything that had happened, and now she thought that she was all alone while she had to deal with it. Kagome wasn't.

"Kagome!" In unison, all of the ninjas from Konoha and Suna leapt in to aid her. They were her eyes where she could not see, her ears where she could not hear, her weapons, where she could not defend herself. Whenever Kagome was about to be pierced by one of the tentacles or spike, one of them would deal with it while the others fended off the other deadly appendages in order to try and clear a path for Kagome, who was fighting valiantly, even with one of her newly acquired wounds seeping blood.

- - - - - - - -

The Akatsuki members watched in thinly veiled curiosity as the normally brash Genins, Chuunins and Jounins joined together in a harmonious dance, fighting against one enemy. In a split second, Deidara made his decision and joined the fight, weaving in and out in order to cover all their weak spots.

"Oi, Deidara! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kisame and Hidan shouted at him, shocked that he would even attempt to risk his life in order to kill someone who could kill him in a second.

"I'm saving our future you idiots, so come and HELP ME!" He yelled back at them, dodging a spike shot at him at the last second. Kisame and Hidan didn't need to be told any further and joined the fight, careful to not strike their makeshift allies. Pein just blended into the background, content to watch what could possibly be the demise of their world as they knew it. Itachi, Kakuzu and Sasori were torn between joining the fight or fleeing with their lives. Or to Itachi, it would be "retreating with grace" as his dignity and very Uchiha blood stopped him from doing anything related to the word "fleeing".

"What's wrong Naraku? Why isn't your whore and boy-toy coming to save you?" Kagome taunted in an attempt to get Naraku to slip up. Naraku only grinned dangerously.

"Why, they're right behind you." Kagome felt her blood freeze in her veins and slowly she turned her head to see that her incarnation was grinning with blood running from her eyes as her eyes were filled with madness and evil. Inuyasha was no better except he hid his blood lusting grin.

"Why Kikyo, have you let your hatred for me run so deep that you sell your soul to the Devil himself?" Kagome asked her quietly, feeling only pity for the turned-insane priestess. Kikyo's mad grin diminished.

"Why have I let my hatred run this deep?! Let me ask you this, dear reincarnation. What would you do if you died by your lover's own hands only to be resurrected from the land of the no longer living by a crone and see your lover in the hands of your reincarnation?! Tell me, oh pure one, what would you have done?! WOULD YOUR PATH BE SO DIFFERENT?! TELL ME!" Kikyo screamed hysterically, losing her grips on the last scraps of her humanity. Kikyo drew back her black bow and let her arrow fly towards Kagome, tainted energy surrounding the fletched shaft. The glinting silver arrowhead turned a pure onyx under the influence of Kikyo black magic.

Kagome let her head drop, her bangs shadowing her eyes as she gave an unearthly chuckle that made everyone's hairs stand up on the back of their necks. "So you think just because you lost your love you have the right to become bitter and go around throwing a bad version of a temper tantrum? Wake up." Kagome's voice was ice-cold, and the others shivered as they fought to keep Naraku at bay.

"You know nothing about me! You are just a stupid reincarnation-" Kikyo was cut off by a growl.

"I know nothing?!" Kagome raged, her eyes glowing as she zeroed in on the slightly frightened dark priestess. "What of all the times you ripped my heart apart because you stole away the one man I came to trust and eventually love? What of the fact that I gave you half my soul, and allowed you to rip out and keep it because Inuyasha wanted you to live? I gave up everything for him and yet I was awarded with betrayal, and I still LIVE. I live because I want to right the wrongs that occurred due to the mistake that Mistress Centipede did when she dragged me down that enchanted well. I REFUSE to let hatred take over my life because I know that if I do, it's all over. All that I worked for will be gone and everyone will suffer a hundred fold. I live so that I can stop and protect all those people that deserve to live."

"I'm not going to let my hatred take over my life." Kagome charged at Kikyo, and with two slashes, purified her back to where she belonged, her soul soaring back to her. "And unlike you, if I loved that person, I would be happy if they were happy, no matter whom they were with." Inuyasha turned to her and drew Tetsusaiga, no emotion on his face.

"As you have killed my mistress, I will kill you and then join her in the afterlife." Inuyasha said tonelessly as he lunged at her. Kagome's tears slid down her face, watching as a once proud Inu-Hanyou turned into a killing machine, unable to think for himself. She placed a gentle glowing finger on his forehead and gave him a swift death, where he would join his lover in a happy reunion, where they both belonged. They would be able to be together when they could not in life, thanks to Naraku and the Shikon Jewel.

Kagome breathed out a sigh and turned to face the now-snarling Naraku, who had long since grown tired of dealing with pawns. He wanted to deal with the King, not his mere subjects. With a growl at Gaara, who managed to wound him quite seriously in the leg, rendering it useless until he could regenerate a new one.

"Come now little miko, surely you are not so afraid of me that you hide behind the lesser people?" In an instant, that statement caused Kagome to think of one plan, one that would surely win. She grinned at him, reminding everyone of a hawk targeting its prey.

"Lesser people you say? Even the mightiest will fall from overconfidence, corrupted hanyou." Kagome stated, as her eyes glittered with mirth. _Oh, how ironic this will be. _Kagome thought, inwardly laughing maniacally. She dropped into a position good for both offence and defence and smirked.

"Let's begin."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six:

_**Recap:**_

"_Lesser people you say? Even the mightiest will fall from overconfidence, corrupted hanyou." Kagome stated, as her eyes glittered with mirth. Oh, how ironic this will be. Kagome thought, inwardly laughing maniacally. She dropped into a position good for both offence and defence and smirked. _

"_Let's begin." _

_**End Recap**_

Kagome ran forwards, gracefully dodging all of the tentacles and miasma he sent her way, focused on a single goal. Eliminating the threat known as Naraku.

"Come on my little miko, I thought you were going to 'condemn me' for my so-called sins. What happened to all that fire you had before? I would enjoy breaking you more if you would refuse to give up until the end." Gaara snarled and all the people near him shuddered and quickly moved a safe distance away, choosing to not stay near an aggravated jinchuuriki.

Kagome threw him a light smile, causing his face to unintentionally flush as he watched her battle the evil demon. Temari snickered and was the unfortunate receiver of Gaara's anger. Once Gaara had calmed down, he furrowed his brows when he felt the paint presence of Kagome's chakra, only instead of in front of him, he sensed it behind him. Whirling around, he saw Kagome crouched on the floor, out of Naraku's line of sight. She pulled Gaara down too muttered into his ear her plan.

"Now listen carefully, the Kagome that is fighting Naraku right now is only a shadow clone, I needed a distraction so that Naraku wouldn't notice me, and so that I would have enough time to come up with the plan."

"And the plan is?" Gaara's eyes widened when he heard what she planned to do, but he understood why she had to do it. It may have been dangerous, but all of this had to end. Naraku had to disappear, and Kagome had to be the one to make him disappear. His face was grim, but determined. He nodded his head in confirmation and proceeded to straighten and attack the laughing Naraku from behind, where he was now vulnerable due to dropping his guard as he attacked Kagome.

Naraku hissed at him, obviously ruffled and annoyed that he had dropped his guard so readily. Gaara saw tentacles heading his way, but his sand immediately came up to protect him. Kagome, meanwhile, started to purify any limbs that were within her striking distance, making sure that they turned to ashes and were blown away in the wind so he could not regenerate them.

The other ninjas could only watch dumbfounded as Gaara and Kagome worked in obvious synchronization. They twirled, spun, jumped and attacked in a pattern that confused Naraku, managing to injure him again and again. Finally, he growled and let his demonic energy surge outwards towards them, rendering them immobile for a few scant seconds before they recovered, but that was all the time he needed.

Laughing maniacally (once again), he carefully threw a small highly poisonous bug-youkai at Kagome and she was bitten. Kagome ripped the bug off her and purified it while crushing it into dust in her hands. Her vision grew a bit fuzzy and she shook her head to clear it, but that was evidently the wrong thing to do as Naraku took this chance to pierce her with his razor-sharp spikes.

The world slowed down for Gaara and he watched wide-eyes as Kagome coughed up warm, wet blood. Naraku laughed.

"You should never have let your guard down, my dear miko." He said in a patronizing tone, as if he was speaking to a five-year old. Kagome growled at him, but in reality she was doing all she could in order to stay upright. The poison was circulating her bloodstream fast, and the very deep wounds that practically pierced through her body weren't helping matter either. But it was then that she smirked.

"Tell me Naraku, what would you do if I told you that you were about to die?" she asked him, her eyes gleaming. Naraku laughed again, but it lacked his usual bravado.

"I'd say that you were dreaming. You will never be able to beat me. You aren't even as strong as your predecessor, and even Kikyo bowed down to me in the end. Accept your _fate_ and just die, miko." Kagome's temper snapped the moment he said the word 'fate'. It reminded her too much of Neji, whom he had just killed.

"SHUT UP YOU ASSHOLE!" She screamed at him, startling him and letting her land a blow with her katanas onto his unprotected chest. He hissed at her in pain, letting his arm convulse into a gooey bubbling substance that splashed across her clothes, but luckily none of it managed to get onto her skin before she jumped away.

"What the hell is that stuff?!" Kiba snarled, holding his sleeve over his nose so that it would not be invaded with the horrid decay and burning smell of the substance. Kagome let the corner of her mouth lift up in distaste, her own nose wrinkling.

"It is a highly corrosive acid that, once in contact with skin, will corrode everything, including the bone." Kagome answered, looking quite calm for a person who just said that her arm or legs could potentially be melted off. She looked calmly up at Naraku, who was floating about a feet off the ground with a murderous smile plastered onto his smug face.

"Aw, did I hurt da widdle baby?" Naraku said in a babyish voice. Kagome looked at him with blank eyes.

"Onigumo…" Naraku froze at the name, but Kagome pressed on. "Onigumo is still in there isn't he? His conscience I mean."

Naraku struggled to keep the malicious smile on his face.

"He regrets, does he not? He only ever loved Kikyo, not all of this power." Naraku's smile slipped off his face and was replaced by a stony expression. "He lives on in your mind, trying to stop you from killing all those innocent people. He is _still __**human." **_

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Naraku's voice was harsh, and no matter how much he said that sentence, Kagome knew he was lying.

"Stop with all the lies. Onigumo is human, and he did not ever want to kill. He only wanted Kikyo's love. He loved her with all his heart, and he was willing to go to any lengths to capture her. I mean, he even absorbed all those demons into himself in order to be able to move again, just so that he could embrace her." Kagome laughed. "I cannot believe that his love was so strong that he was blind to her love for Inuyasha."

Naraku's crimson eyes turned bloodthirsty. "Shut up." He hissed at her, trying to stop her from speaking anymore by attacking her with all of his tentacles. Kagome's barrier stopped them from even getting within a meter of her body.

"You are scared." Naraku stopped his attack simply out of shock at her words. Then he threw his head back and laughed uproariously, his eyes gleaming.

"I am scared? Of what, may I ask?" His face was smug.

"You are scared of death. Of Onigumo regaining control. Of ceasing to exist." Naraku was no longer laughing, but stared at her with wide eyes. Then his face turned blank.

"Now what? Now that you think you know my fears, what are you going to do? Huh!?!??!?! What do you know about me?! Nothing!" Naraku screamed at her, turning hysterical as he attacked her with waves of dark energy and razor-sharp tentacles. Kagome shook her head sadly at him.

"You know what Naraku? I don't hate you, I pity you. You have let your insecurities and hatred take over and taint your soul. You have let your fears become a reality."

"What would you know??!?!?!?" Naraku yelled at her. "You're just a copy! You hold no worth in this world or any other. You will always be known as the worthless reincarnation. Who are you to tell me what I should or have done?!" Kagome levelled him with a clear gaze.

"I am not a copy."

"Really?! Tell that to your more powerful incarnation, Kikyo. The only worthwhile miko ever, not you." Naraku said, laughing. Kagome did not let any hurt show on her face, shocking him inwardly.

"I am not Kikyo's copy, and I'm going to do the thing she wouldn't ever do to destroy you." Kagome said quietly.

Naraku laughed, obviously in disbelief. "Really? And what would that be, my dear little copy?"

Kagome stepped towards him and he stepped back with every step she took. He wouldn't ever admit it, but he was frightened by the look of complete peace she had. She shouldn't have worn that look, especially since she was facing _him_, of all people. She should not have had that look of pity; it should have been one of hatred.

"W-what a-are you d-doing?" he asked, cursing himself for stuttering. She ignored his weak protests and stepped closer and closer until she was directly in front of him.

Then she did something that would shock him and everyone for the rest of their lives.

She hugged him.


	37. The Ending

**The Ending (THERE WILL BE ALTERNATE ENDINGS!!!)**

Everyone was literally speechless with shock. Gaara was so stunned that he didn't even feel jealous, but once he snapped out of his shock, he didn't even have the chance to feel that particular emotion as he saw Kagome was slowly purifying Naraku from inside out. Naraku screamed tried to push her away, but she held strong, her powers slowly turning Naraku into sooty black ash.

Of course, all was not to end so peacefully and Naraku glared daggers at her, his legs and arms having already disappeared, so he couldn't attack her. He laughed harshly, causing Kagome grip to loosen on him for a second. He tore away, a head and half of his torso floating in the sky.

He was laughing even harder now, his face tilted towards the darkening stormy sky.

"Did you think it was really going to be that easy, miko?!" He yelled, laughing. "I curse you, foolish little miko, to never be able to return to or dwell in this world that you have grown to love! You will never have the chance to find happiness in this Earthly realm, where you have fallen in love with that cursed demon container, or that foolish fate-believer! Thrown from land-to-land, you will be thrown once again, back to where you truly belonged all along; with the worthless humans you call family, who will never be able to understand you! They will fear you and your powers, and you will be forced to the lands of the dead!" Naraku laughed maniacally.

As he chanted his black curse, a rip appeared in the air and it parted to reveal desolate bone-white sand and an eerily blue sky hanging above what seemed to be an endless desert. There were no life forms in sight, not even a scrawny little plant or insect. Kagome tried to back away from it warily, but it seemed as if her feet were glued to the ground.

As the rip grew wider and wider, so did Kagome's eyes, the dread sinking in. She could die. Or worse, she might be sent to another world yet again. She whipped her head around to face the cackling head of Naraku, her face betraying no emotion. Calmly, she raised her arm and a bow made from pure miko energy flared to life in her hands.

Her other hand was outstretched as if she were trying to draw the bowstring, and an arrow formed, slowly due to her already depleted energy stores. Luckily for Naraku, the few seconds it took to form the arrow was the only seconds he needed and he finished his chant, the rip sucking in Kagome. She was silent as she went through, aiming the bow and arrow at his heart. Before the rip closed up, she released the arrow and watched with grim satisfaction as the last of Naraku was purified, though not without a loud scream on his part.

Kagome couldn't deny that she was scared, but there was nothing she could do now. So she did the one thing she thought she would never do.

She prayed to God that he would save her soul and let her go home.

* * *

Kagome woke up, bloody and battered to find that she had been sleeping in the bone-coloured sand, the almost non-existent breeze shifting the sand minutely. She shivered. The entire place reeked of dark energy, blood and death. In fact, death seemed to be integrated in every inch of the area.

Getting to her feet slowly, she noted that all the sand around her had been stained a bright crimson by the blood flowing freely from her wounds. She grimaced when the pain of her wounds finally caught up with her and she nearly dropped to the ground in pure pain.

Gritting her teeth, Kagome managed to raise her head so she could finally look around where she had dropped into. And her jaw dropped.

In front of her was a huge white structure, off-white walls standing tall and proud, though somewhat creepy, in front of her. One question lingered in her mind.

_'WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?!?!?!?!?!'_

**THE END**

That's the end of Kagome, Team Seven's Fourth Member and there will be a sequel called Goodbye Konoha, Hello Hueco Mundo. It is an Inuyasha Bleach crossover, and here is the summary:

Inuyasha/Bleach x-over. Just when Kagome thought it was all over, she was sent to another godforsaken dimension and world. Wanted by Soul Society, the Arrancar and Aizen, she escapes from Hueco Mundo and back to Tokyo, where she meets a certain substitute shinigami.

**THERE ARE GOING TO BE ALTERNATE ENDINGS FEATURING KAGOME/GAARA AND KAGOME/NEJI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	38. Alt Ending 1

**Alternate Ending #1 (Gaara)**

"Holy…"

"...shit." Kiba and Naruto said at the same time, causing Sakura to give them both a rather hard whack on the heads.

"Shut up! You're ruining the atmosphere!" she hissed at them, going back to watching the scene with Ino, who had somehow procured two chairs and a bag of popcorn. The boys all sweatdropped.

"Um…Ino? Sakura? What are you two doing?" Shikamaru asked tentatively, worried for his own sanity. The two looked up at him incredulously.

"Are you kidding me? This is better than the stuff on T.V.!" They cried at the same time, going back to consuming their buttery popcorn while watching Gaara, Kagome and Naraku with avid yet morbid interest.

_Back to Kagome…_

Gaara watched in shock as Kagome kept hugging the evil hanyou that was out for her life, and her Shikon no Tama. Slowly, her purification powers ate away at Naraku, and piece by piece, his demon skin chipped away to reveal burnt human skin underneath.

He seemed to switch from Naraku to Onigumo and back. Then, Onigumo seemed to stay for longer times.

"I…want…you…to…listen…to….me…" Onigumo panted out between changes. Kagome nodded.

"You…_**shut up fool….**_need to…_**SILENCE…**_use the wood of your sacred bow and…_**QUIET!!" **_Naraku gained control over the body temporarily and ripped himself out of her grasp, and away from the dangerous purification.

"Onigumo!" Calling his name seemed to reawaken him and Naraku reverted back to his human half.

"Wrap the wood of the bow around his neck and it will stop his youki. Then please purify me." Onigumo told her, his face set in a permanent sorrowful expression. Kagome nodded. Breaking her bow into two equal pieces, she proceeded to rip thin strips of wood off, fashioning a makeshift collar. Gaara covered her as she did this, choosing to attack with kunai and shuriken while his sand formed a protective barrier around Kagome, who was working diligently, completely immersed in her task, leaving herself wide open.

As she finished up her task, Gaara let the sand wall fall and Kagome stood there, looking down at her hands, which held a pure white collar, tinged brown. Slowly, she looked up, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared at Naraku, who snarled and lunged at her. He was stopped before he even came within one meter of her by a pulsing purple barrier. Kagome walked forwards to meet him, and he reverted back to Onigumo with some struggling on Onigumo's part, as he tried to keep Naraku under control.

"Onigumo, I'm sorry. You never deserved this." Kagome said quietly, opening the collar-like wood and setting it gently around his neck, careful to not let it touch just yet.

"It was my fault. Now I may be redeemed for my sins." Onigumo replied honestly. "I thank the heavens that I was able to come across a priestess that would listen and reply to my plea. Kagome only nodded, securing the last of the clasps.

She let it drop onto his neck and immediately a loud scream pierced that air. "Quickly! Say the…chant!" Onigumo managed to gasp out, before he was reverted yet again to Naraku. Kagome nodded and jumped back, putting her hands in a prayer position.

_"Oh Gods of vengeful wrath and immeasurable mercy!_

_Let my prayer be heard,_

_Save the soul of this man,_

_And purge the evils that control him._

_Let fire, water, earth and air cleanse him,_

_And let his sins be wiped clean._

_Let his soul be saved and the evil that is Naraku be tossed to Hell, _

_Where his evil deeds maybe judged. _

_I call upon the Gates of Judgement, of Heaven and Hell!" _Kagome's hair whipped around her as she chanted, and as she finished up the chant, Naraku's screams grew louder and louder until all the ninjas had to slap their hands over their ears to block out the horribly sound. A rumbling brought them all to their knees and they watched in shock and awe as a massive gate with twin doors slowly rose out of the ground.

There were two skeletons perched on wither side of the door, and the doors slid open, revealing swirling black and red. Cries of pain and anguish came from within the terrible gate. Chains that used to lock the doors closed were now hanging limply, and bones and spikes decorated the outside.

One of the skeletons hopped down and walked slowly for Naraku, who tried to run away, but it was all in vain. Naraku was dragged screaming and kicking through the doors that clanged shut behind him. Then the gates shattered and disappeared, as if they had never been there. Now all that was left was the faint outline of Onigumo's human soul and heart.

He bowed deeply to Kagome, who smiled at him. "You can finally rest in peace." Onigumo nodded, tears slipping down his face as he smiled gratefully at her. He started to fade away, but before the last of him did, Kagome swore she heard him whisper '_Thank you…'. _

_Timeskip 6 months later…._

"Hey, have you seen Kagome?" Sakura asked Ino at her flower shop, hopping from one foot to the other in agitation.

"No, why?" Ino asked, puzzled.

"He's asking her today!!!" Sakura practically squealed. Ino gasped and a huge grin spread over her face. She quickly undid her apron and ran out of the door of her flower shop, locking it and quickly switching the open sign to closed.

Ino and Sakura ran to where they knew Kagome would be, and they arrived just in time to see Gaara walk towards Kagome's house, which was surrounded by a circle of sakura trees. Ino and Sakura grinned and dove behind one of the larger ones, only to find that some other people had had the same idea. Tenten, Lee and Naruto hid in one of the tallest trees right next to them while the rest of the Rookie Nine along with Neji, who had been given some of Kagome's life energy to be resurrected, hid in the foliage in the forest, just close enough to see and hear everything perfectly, but far enough so that they could get away from Kagome's and Gaara's wrath when they were discovered.

Kagome's soul was so large that her life energy was practically triple what everyone else's was. Neji had accepted that she loved Gaara and was now engaged to Tenten, who had been in a state of shock when he proposed to her. Surprisingly, even Tsunade and Kakashi were present, making bets on how he would propose. Tsunade bet it would be a bit mushy while Kakashi bet that he would just demand it.

"Kagome." Gaara called out to her, effectively making her stop her cloud-gazing and sit up to look at him.

"Hey Gaara." Kagome answered her eyes softening and a smile lingering upon her lips. She was puzzled when he sat down facing her, instead of beside her like usually.

"K-Kagome," Kiba and Naruto snickered. Who knew Gaara could stutter? "I've been thinking a lot and I thought about how horrible it would be if you or I died and I never got to tell you. So, Higurashi Kagome, will you marry me?" Gaara asked, kissing her lightly on the lips and slipping a ring onto her finger. It was a simple band of gold with a sapphire in the middle and tiny diamond that was set into a pattern of ivy leaves around it.

Tsunade snickered at Kakashi who handed over the money grudgingly.

Kagome looked at Gaara, then at the ring. Gaara. Ring. Then she broke out into a huge grin and tackled him rolling and laughing. "Yes!"

And so, they lived happily ever after.

**THE END**


	39. Alt Ending 2

**Alternate Ending #2 (Neji)**

_**Recap:**_

She hugged him.

_**End Recap**_

Naraku screamed as he was slowly purified from her touch. Then he started to laugh. And laugh.

"FOOLISH! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! I AM INVINCIBLE!" Naraku yelled as he cackled to the sky. As if the sky were listening, the clouds started to turn black and lightning flashed through the darkening clouds.

"MIKO! IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!" And with that, Naraku drove what was left of his body forwards and put every ounce of his youki and miasma into his last attack. Kagome was too shocked to move and took full effect of the attack.

"KAGOME!" Everyone watched in seemingly-slow motion as the youki faded away, leaving a bloody and battered Kagome. She gave Naraku a small smile.

"Always underestimating your opponent. Now it's going to get you killed." In her hands was a bow and arrow formed from pure miko energy. It was aimed directly at his heart. "May you find rest." And with those last words, she let the arrow fly, and it flew true, striking through Naraku's heart and purifying him from the inside out. But before he was completely purified, he shot forward, pushing one of his sharpened limbs right through her abdomen.

Kagome nearly screamed from the pain but kept her focus on Naraku, making sure every part of him had no chance of returning. Soon enough, he was nothing but a pile of shimmering silver ash, but his last words to her before he was blown off the face of the Earth by the wind was, "You're doomed my little miko, you can either choose to save the boy or yourself. Who will you choose?" One haunting laugh later Naraku was officially dead.

Kagome gasped and fell to the ground, feeling Naraku's poisoned miasma and tainted energy flowing through her, heading straight for her heart. Using the last of her energy, Kagome sent most of her life-energy to Neji, using Grandma Chiyo's forbidden technique to revive him. The last thing Kagome saw was Gaara rushing towards her and being picked up and cradled before everything wet black.

-----

Kagome opened her eyes slowly and was promptly blinded by a white, shining light. _'If this is Heaven, they should really tell God to tone down the lights a little…'_ Her heaven image was quickly shattered though, when she was tackled by two crying, sobbing blond and pink bundles. It took her a moment to realize that she was being hugged by Sakura and Ino and not two crazy weird fangirls, bent on revenge for being too close to their Sasuke-kun or Neji-kun, or even Gaara-kun.

"Kagome! You're okay!!!" they sobbed into her clothing, leaving Kagome very confused. _'Wasn't the jutsu supposed to kill me?' _At this moment, Tsunade walked in and shot her a disapproving frown.

"That jutsu you performed almost killed you, had it not been for some of your life energy keeping your heart beating until we were able to get you to a hospital and give you some of our chakra in order to heal your wounds and give you a chance to recover your life-energy. Kagome nodded slowly to show that she understood.

Then the one person entered that owed his life to her.

"Kagome. Thank you for saving my life." Neji said bowing. Sakura sent Ino a knowing smirk and they both skipped out, dragging Tsunade behind them who wanted to see what was going to happen. Then she remembered that there were security cameras, so she quickly ran to the camera room and sat down with a bucket of popcorn.

"Kagome…I wanted to thank you for everything. Giving me back my life and happiness. And I wanted to tell you before anything could happen to me or you again, that I…" Kagome waited for him to say the next part, but he kept stuttering, so she took it into her own hands.

She pulled him downwards and whispered into his ear, "I love you too." Then she kissed him.

6 months later, Neji proposed to her on her birthday and she accepted. They now live happily ever after in Konoha, with 2 kids.


End file.
